The Lost Heroine
by ATrueHufflepuff13
Summary: Hera switched Reyna and Annabeth instead of Percy and Jason. Will Reyna be able to make it to her in time? Rated K plus, since all Riordan's books are. No swearing, or anything else kids shouldn't read. Spoilers for The Lost Hero, in case you haven't figured that out yet.
1. Chapter 1: Reyna Helps A Goat

**Disclaimer:** You all should know by now, I do not own any of the characters! Zero! The only thing I own are Reyna's knitting needles, and they don't have a trademark or copyright on them, so I'll just say I don't even own those.

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Reyna woke up in the back seat of a school bus, with no idea where she was, holding hands with a boy she knew nothing about. That wasn't even the bad part; the bad part was that she had no idea who she was and what she was doing here, but she punched the boy in the face anyway.

"Leo, are you bugging Reyna AGAIN?" the girl behind them asked.

Leo, the guy who was sitting next to her, jammed his hand back into his coat pocket and began building something out of stray nuts and bolts. His cheeks were a little red, except for a purple lump which Reyna supposed had come from her fist. He had a babyish face and pointy ears, and she might have thought he looked cute if he hadn't turned and smiled at her, showing her that he was the kind of guy who enjoyed dropping spiders into the backs of girl's hoodies.

The girl behind them had smooth brown hair that would have been beautiful, but she looked like she'd cut it herself, and used safety scissors. Her clothes weren't matching and she apparently didn't care about her appearance, but she was pretty.

She was distracted by the teacher standing at the front of the bus. He was obviously a teacher, but he was very short. Someone yelled "Stand up Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that," the teacher scowled. Suddenly, Reyna felt out of place. She wasn't supposed to be there, she didn't even know who she was! Coach Hedge looked at her, and she shivered in spite of herself. That guy was creepy, it was like he knew she wasn't supposed to be there. No one knew she wasn't supposed to be there yet, but they would find out soon, she was sure of that.

"Stick with your partners! Don't lose your worksheets! We'll be arriving in five minutes, and if any one of you precious little cupcakes puts a toe out of line, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way!" he swung an aluminum bat as if he was knocking a student's brains out.

Leo, the boy next to her, put his arms around hers and began rubbing.

"Cold?" he asked.

Didn't this guy take a hint?

"Just get off me," she murmured, pushing his hands away. She was way too distracted to concentrate on boys.

"Leo, I saw that, now seriously, just get off Reyna."

"What's your name?" Reyna asked.

"Piper," the girl said, looking at Reyna worriedly. "Why? Don't you know me?"

"I, I don't remember who I am. I don't remember anything actually." Reyna figured she would have to tell someone, and these two seemed like they could be trusted. Unless they were undercover agents, but what would undercover agents do to her? She didn't know anything anymore.

Leo looked at her, scrunching his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Hmm, I see, but if you're trying to get me to 'fix' you, my super powers don't work on people."

Reyna just looked at him.

"Ok, well, if you don't remember anything, we'd better get you up to date," Piper said, and she sounded a bit worried.

"That's Leo, he's hopeless. Don't mind him, he's always chasing after random girls who will never love him back. He'll give up on you eventually, just like he gave up on me. Hey, are you sure you don't remember anything?"

Reyna pressed her hands to her temples. "I, I can't remember anything. I don't know where we're going, I don't know why I'm here, and I don't even think I'm supposed to be here. I don't remember anyone on the bus, or who my parents are."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Whoa girl, you have some serious memory problems. I'm SO inventing a backup chip for human brains if I ever get hold of the material. That way, when your brain crashes, we can just re-upload your memories, and ta da! Good as new."

Reyna turned to Piper. "Is he really as good at building things as he makes himself out to be?" she'd have ignored his boasting, but after watching him build a working miniature steam boat out of nuts, bolts, and scraps of metal and disassembling in just as fast, she wondered.

"Hey is there a problem back there?" the coach yelled. Wow that was startling. Reyna hadn't even remembered he was still there.

Leo winked at Reyna. "Watch this and you'll see sweetheart. Hey, sorry Coach Hedge, I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone?"

The coach was obviously pleased to have an excuse, and he unclipped his megaphone and held it to his mouth.

"THE COW SAYS MOO," he blared out. Everyone on the bus roared with laughter.

"VALDEZ!" The coach yelled, and his voice sounded like Darth Vader.

Piper snickered. "Oh my gosh Leo, how did you do that?"

Leo held up a small Phillips head screwdriver and twirled it between his fingers. "I'm a special boy," he grinned.

The bus stopped, and the coach began blaring out instructions in his Darth Vader voice, with an occasional "THE PIG SAYS OINK!" or "THE SHEEP SAYS BAA!"

As the students filed out, Leo began talking again. "Ok, so we're at the Grand Canyon, and we-"

"Reyna KNOWS that Leo, it's completely obvious where we are right now."

Reyna couldn't help thinking how very like a big sister Piper was to Leo.

"Ok, well anyway, we're at the Wilderness School, I mean, we're at the Grand Canyon, but we GO to the Wilderness School. It's where the bad kids go. Piper stole a BMW, I ran away six times, and I don't know what you did, because you never told us. Oh, Piper, I hope you brought your worksheet, because I used mine for spit-"

Leo stopped and cringed at the look Piper was giving him.

"I mean, um, I gave mine to a homeless kid the other day."

Piper smacked her forehead hopelessly.

"Leo," Reyna said, "you're weird."

Leo grinned. "You tell me that a lot. Come on, there's something I want to show you."

"Hey partner," A big kid with black hair combed superman style and teeth so white they could blind you sauntered up and linked his arm through Piper's. "You're supposed to be with me, remember?"

"That, my friend, is Dylan. None of us even want to know why he's here." Leo whispered.

Reyna stared at him, and her eyes narrowed. That kid gave her a bad feeling. She instinctively slipped her hands into the leather pouch over her shoulder. What was in there anyway? Her hands closed around two sharp, cold pieces of metal and she pulled them out.

"Remind me why I carry knitting needles in my bag?" Reyna asked Leo, as she fingered the soft wool yarn holding the knitting needles.

Leo laughed. "You don't remember how to knit? You really do have a major case of amnesia."

Reyna examined the knitting needles. "I think I do know how to knit, I just don't remember any knitting patterns. That's not any good though."

Leo shrugged. "We'd better catch up with the group before Piper's blinded by that dude's smile."

They reached the beginning of the bridge and the coach began calling out rules.

"Alright cupcakes, try not to push each other off the edge. Don't throw anything else off either, unless you want to get sued for cluttering the Colorado."

"Here," Leo whispered, as he shoved a pipe cleaner helicopter into Reyna's hands. "Just take the paper clips off and drop it over the edge."

Reyna walked out onto the bridge. The winds swirled around her, and as she looked down, she felt dizzy. She was pretty sure she wasn't afraid of heights, but this was seriously high. It could have well been a gutter for Pluto's palace. Wait, where did she get Pluto? Who was Pluto anyway?

Reyna gasped, scrambling back from the edge and holding her head in both hands.

"Reyna, are you alright?" Leo asked, as he ran up to her.

Reyna was breathing quickly. "I, um, I think it was something from my past. Leo, who is Pluto?"

"Pluto? That's a planet. Why do you want to know about Pluto?"

Reyna straightened. "No, it's not a planet." Leo looked at her skeptically, but didn't say anything.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and finally Reyna looked back at the small helicopter in her palm. She held it over the side of the bridge and pulled the paper clip off the blade. As the helicopter fell toward the river, its blades began turning, and it whizzed upwards, spinning and dipping in the wind.

Reyna watched it with awe. "How did you do that Leo?"

Suddenly Coach Hedge was beside them. "I told you not to throw things off the edge Valdez!" he turned to Reyna, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you. What are you doing here?"

Finally there was someone who knew she wasn't supposed to be here! "I, I don't know sir," she stammered. Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder.

The winds around the bridge started going crazy, as if they were trying to push the students off. The coach's eyes widened, and he started ordering everyone inside. Reyna pushed Leo in front of her and ran to pull a blonde haired girl away from the edge.

As Reyna checked to make sure everyone had made it safely, she heard Piper's scream, and turned to find Dylan and Piper next to the railing; only Piper was on the wrong side of it.

As Piper gripped the railing for dear life, Reyna watched Dylan as he turned into a swirling mist.

"Venti," she muttered under her breath.

"PIPER!" Leo yelled, "NO!"

Coach Hedge came galloping up, swinging his baseball bat madly. Other storm spirits appeared beside Dylan, and Dylan screamed "STOP OR THE GIRL DIES!" his stormy hand was held over Piper's, ready to push her hands over the railing. Leo and the coach froze.

The venti looked at Reyna gleefully. "You must be the one the mistress talked about," they breathed. "She only wanted you, the rest are useless."

Suddenly, Reyna realized he was going to push Piper off the edge. With one quick motion, she drew a knitting needle from her bag and threw it at the ventus's arm. As it flew, it transformed into a dagger.

Dylan screeched, and recoiled from the side of the bridge. It gave Reyna just enough time to leap onto the railing and catch Piper's hand as she fell, but as she pulled Piper up, the venti had swarmed back together. Reyna had only one dagger left, and she didn't feel like throwing it at a cloud again.

Suddenly she felt a prickle in the air. She knew that feeling from somewhere. She pushed Piper away and ducked as a lighting bolt hit the railing post beside her. Piper screamed as the explosion blew Reyna off the edge of the bridge.

She caught a glimpse of the building behind her as she fell. One of the doors was blown off, and half the bridge was missing, but Piper and Leo were safely inside, although Piper's lip was bleeding. Coach Hedge was yelling things, and waving a tree branch at the venti, but Reyna knew they wouldn't be able to hold off for long.

Reyna fell toward the river, she realized she had failed. Piper and Leo would be taken by the venti, and she would have died in vain.

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**Author's Notes:** CLIFFHANGER! I hate cliffhangers, but I am afraid I will have to give you one. It's just a good place to stop. Now, to give you a heads up on what is to come:

Reyna has random memories from nowhere, so if you think you found a hint on her past, you probably did. To tell you right up front, yes, she knew about the lighting by working with Jason.

Reyna is much much different than Jason. By writing this story, I see why Hera chose Percy and Jason instead of Reyna and Annabeth. Percy and Jason are a lot more powerful, if not smarter, and they both had plenty of experience. Since Reyna cannot fly, zap things with lightning, or find a long lost sister in the mountains, the story will be a lot different.

Leo has a crush on Reyna, but Reyna just thinks Leo is crazy. Not much Leyna in here, except from Leo's perspective. As the Lost Hero pointed out, Leo likes going after girls who will never love him back. No Jasper, since Jason is not introduced yet. Jeyna? Well, Reyna did have a crush on Jason in the books, but it was bigger than the crush he had on her.

I promise I will not abandon this, but I will need to have about a week between updates. Maybe two. Two in a half at the most. I might publish stories in between chapters, but remember, I'm not going to abandon this!

And last of all, I have a confession to make. I do not own the Lost Hero book. You will have some very different scenes in this fic. Just remember, Reyna is not Jason.

Don't forget... REVIEW! I have a contest this time, same rules as before: The winners get the next chapter dedicated to them! Of course, this is a GREEK MYTH contest, not PJO.

You are NOT ALLOWED to look the answer up, you must either know or guess. See if you can get it.

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**Selene, the moon, fell in love with a mortal in the myths. What was the fate of this mortal?**

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Again, no looking it up! It is too easy to google Selene and come up with the answer. Winners have the next chapter dedicated to them!


	2. Chapter 2: Percy Drains the Colorado

Congratulations everyone! Even the ones who got the answer wrong made a good guess, and I did give a pretty tricky question. The winners are...

**Malcom Son of Athena-Poseidon**

**lunarock9**

**DuckInTheHat**

Good job ALL of you! This chapter was made especially for you, so don't hesitate to tell me what you think! And to E. E. Terrill, good guess, but that was Eos, the dawn, not Selene. Good job anyway!

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As she fell, Reyna flattened out her body like a skydiver. She knew it slowed her fall, but she wasn't sure how she knew. Suddenly, an arm grabbed her waist and she was floating. Well, falling slower really. For a split second, Reyna felt a thrill of safety and assurance run through her, and she knew who she was. Then, just as soon as it had come, it left, and the unknown was back, falling through the air with a boy hanging onto her waist.

"LEO!" Reyna called with relief, as she turned her head and saw Leo. He had one arm around her waist and the other arm and both his feet were flattened against the door that had blown off, trying to keep the rest of him stable.

"Hi Reyna," he said, and a quiver in his voice gave away his fear. "Thought you might need a little help."

That guy was a genius. The door would slow the fall like a kite, or a hang glider. Swinging her arms to one side, she took control of the door/glider, and angled it toward the wall of the canyon. Now Leo was the one hanging onto her.

"Just give me a boost," she murmured. "I can grab that branch."

"Give you a what?" Leo asked, confused. Wait, how could Leo give her a boost? What was she thinking about? Leo couldn't control winds. With a final jerk, Reyna caught the tree branch and the door tumbled down into the river below.

"Uh, Reyna?" Leo asked, uncertainly. He was hanging onto her waist with an iron grip. Reyna was a bit afraid that her pants would come off, but she pushed that thought into the back of her mind.

"Can you reach my other dagger?" she asked. Leo changed his grip and she felt his hand desperately grab for her bag. He pulled out the ball of yarn and handed it to Reyna. It thundered, then started to pour down rain. Reyna would have been freezing had Leo's arms not been unnaturally hot.

"Here's your knitting needle daggers," Leo said, as Reyna grabbed the ball of yarn quickly.

"How did you get the other one?" Reyna asked, as she pulled the knitting needles out of the ball of yarn and slipped the yarn back to Leo.

"Dunno," Leo said, "I didn't get them, but it probably appeared back in the ball of yarn."

"Good thing I didn't throw the yarn into the river just now," Reyna muttered, as she pulled herself onto the path.

"Whew," Leo said, relieved, as he let go of Reyna. "That was close. Aren't you glad tourists like paths?"

Reyna wasn't listening, instead, she was examining the wall of the canyon.

"Come on," she said, "We've got to get back up there."

"Woah now, we can't just climb up the canyon wall. Besides, I don't think there's much we can do." Leo scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"We can climb up the canyon wall," Reyna said, holding up her daggers. "How good are you at holding onto a wet purple shirt?"

Leo obediently put his arms around Reyna's waist once more, and Reyna jammed her first dagger into the wall. Reaching up with her arm, she stuck the second dagger just above the first one.

"Wow Reyna, where did you learn how to do this stuff?" Leo asked, in amazement, as they made their way up the cliff.

"Don't remember," she said shortly. "I'm pretty sure I don't belong here." She kicked her shoes off. Wet crocs were horrible for climbing cliffs, she didn't even know why she owned crocs. For that matter, she didn't even know why crocs existed.

"What? Um, yea right. You've just been put in this school and we've all been given fake memories of you."

"Actually, I think that's exactly what happened. What's my last name?"

"You don't know your last name? Oh, well, you know, um, I can't remember. Weird. Are those daggers gold?"

"Imperial gold I think," Reyna said.

"Imperial gold? What's that?"

"Don't know."

Leo was silent for a while, and Reyna finally broke the silence.

"Thanks for saving me," she said softly.

Leo squirmed, and Reyna was afraid he was going to lose his grip and fall to his death. "No big deal," he said casually, but she was pretty sure he had caught sight of how far up they were, and he didn't like it.

"Why'd you do it?"

"Well, I'm ADHD, so I can't stay still for long. Besides, I was going to die anyway."

Reyna knew that he had been a lot braver than he made himself out to be.

"Woah, what's that on your arm?" Leo asked, and Reyna stopped climbing to gaze at the black tattoo on her arm.

"I don't know, do you?" she asked.

Leo was quiet for a minute. "I don't know how this happened," he murmured. Reyna didn't blame him. One moment he was on a school bus joking with his best friends, then the next, he was about to be killed by a storm spirit, and it turns out he actually didn't know half the stuff he thought he knew about his crush.

"So how come you don't seem surprised that my knitting needles turn into daggers or that Dylan turned into a storm spirit?"

"Oh I'm surprised," Leo said regretfully, "It's just, weird things happen to me all the time. I get used to it."

Reyna kept climbing. They were almost at the top, and she could hear Piper. Suddenly, a wall of water came thundering up at them from the canyon floor. "BRACE YOURSELF!" Reyna screamed, and the water pushed them off of the canyon wall and landed them on the good half of the bridge.

Reyna sputtered and coughed as she looked up at a boy with jet black hair and sea green eyes. He gave her a really bad feeling. No matter how hot that kid was, she knew she could not trust him.

"Who are you," he demanded, examining her bare feet closely. Reyna looked up at him defiantly. Piper rushed over.

"Reyna! Thank goodness! I thought you were dead!"

"Where's Coach Hedge?" Leo asked, looking around at the missing half of the bridge.

"He, he," Piper stopped and blinked.

"The anemoi thuellia took him," the boy said shortly. He was staring out into the canyon, distracted.

"The anemone what?" Leo asked.

"Anemoi thuellia," another boy stepped out of a chariot harnessed to winged horses. "My name's Butch. That's Percy, don't mind him, he was expecting to find Annabeth here."

"Annabeth?" Reyna asked suspiciously.

"She's my girlfriend," Percy said, looking down. "She's missing."

"Oh," Piper said sadly.

"Just shut up, it's fine," Percy said quickly.

"Come on you guys, let's get into the chariot before those storms come back." Butch jumped into the driver's seat. "By the way Piper, nice going with that stick."

Piper blushed modestly. "I thought they killed Reyna."

They all jumped into the chariot, and Butch slapped the reigns. "We're going to Camp Half Blood," he explained. "You'll be safe there. It's the only safe place for demigods as a matter of fact."

"Camp Half Blood?" Piper asked angrily, "Is that some sort of sick joke?"

"She's half Cherokee," Leo whispered to Reyna.

"Nope, not a joke, it means you're half human and half god," Butch corrected. Everyone was silent, taking that in.

"You mean our parents are, are,"

"Gods," Percy finished. "One of them anyway."

Reyna held out her arm, studying her arm closely. SPQR, then four lines. They looked as if they'd been burned into her arm.

"Reyna doesn't know who she is," Leo supplied, "Is that normal?"

Percy turned back quizzically and Reyna hid her arm just in time. Everyone here felt like an enemy, even though they had just saved her, and the tattoo felt private. "You don't know who you are?" he asked.

"No," Reyna said shortly.

Suddenly, the chariot sped up and Reyna disappeared into blackness. When the light came back, they were heading straight toward a pond, and it didn't look like they could stop. Well, it didn't really matter if they got drenched, because they were already soaking wet. With a roar, the chariot splashed into the lake, but the water didn't give as much of a slap as Reyna expected.

"Thanks for the assist Percy," Butch said, as his head popped out of the water.

A boy came running madly down from the green hill. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CHARIOT!" he yelled.

With a wave of Percy's hand, all the water in the lake floated up into the air and a very relieved blonde directed the pegasus up from the dry bottom of the lake and towed the chariot toward what looked like a stable of some sort.

Unfortunately, when Percy waved his hand, everyone in the water was suspended in air too.

"Um, Percy?" Piper asked nervously. The water tipped them out onto the grass, perfectly dry, then splashed back into the lake.

Percy looked at their expressions and suddenly laughed out loud. He looked good that way, he needed to laugh more often.

Suddenly Piper screamed. "PERCY DO SOMETHING!" she called, gazing at Leo's head, "LEO'S ON FIRE!"

Leo's eyes widened with fear, real fear, and he looked up and swatted madly at the flames dancing over his head.

A blazing image of a hammer was hovering above Leo's head.

"Woah," Butch said nervously. "Not good. Must be something to do with the curse."

Reyna looked up in fascination. "Vulcan," she said calmly, "That's the symbol of Vulcan, right?"

"Who's Vulcan?" Percy asked, as the hammer melted away. "No, Leo just got claimed by his godly parent, Hephaestus."

"Aww, come on guys, seriously?" Leo said, staring at Percy and Butch. "First we travel by hyperspace and land in a floating pool, then I get claimed by the god of star trek? I don't even like star trek! And what do you mean Festus? What did you say about a curse?"

Butch rolled his eyes. "You got claimed by Hephaestus, not Vulkum, whoever he is. NYSSA? WE HAVE A NEW CAMPER FOR YOU!" Butch got up and dusted his pants. "Got to go take care of the pegasi," he muttered, and started off toward the stables.

A girl with short, straight brown hair and a grimy shirt poked her head out of one of the cabins. "THIS WAY KID!" she called to Leo.

As Leo scrambled away, Reyna heard bits of their conversation float back to them. "Hey, isn't Hephaestus, like, the god of fire or something? Does that mean we're immune to fire?"

"No, that only happens once in a while. And when it happens, it's not good. This one time-"

The rest of their conversation drifted away, but Reyna was pretty sure about one thing: Leo had a secret, and it had something to do with fire.

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**Author's Notes: **Another cliffhanger. I am ashamed of myself. Not as bad as last time, but still. Now, on with the notes...

I will not have a contest this chapter, but look out for next chapter! And if you're wondering why things are going differently, remember, Reyna is not Jason! Also remember I don't own a copy of the book... yet.

I said it would be a week, but I was too eager to post this. Even I hate my own cliffhangers. Next chapter really will be posted in a week this time. Maybe.

Don't forget, review! Reviews make me work faster :)


	3. Chapter 3: Enemies or Friends?

Reyna got up and dusted herself off. Piper was already up, and campers were swarming around, offering to help with their bags (which they didn't have) or asking how they'd gotten here. One of the girls from a pink cabin seemed especially rude to Reyna.

"Ugh, who invited Dumpster Queen?" she sneered at Piper.

"Drew, drop it." Percy ordered.

"Come on Reyna, let's take you to Chiron. Maybe he can figure out what's up with your memory." Percy got up and waited for Reyna to finish checking everything in her bag.

"Ok, show me this Chiron," Reyna said, and Percy started off toward a rickety old two story house that was losing its paint.

Reyna walked bravely up to the door.

"Ok Reyna, just go on in and talk to Chiron, I'll get Piper settled in."

Percy turned and led Piper toward the circle of cabins. Reyna had a really bad feeling about this, but she pushed the door open anyway.

"Um, hello?" she called nervously. A man in a wheelchair rolled up to her. He caught sight of her arm, and his eyes widened.

"You should be dead," He said, looking at her with horror.

I don't know about you, and I'm not even sure I know about me, but when someone comes up to Reyna and says she should be dead, it gives her the feeling that they tried to kill her. Reyna quickly drew her daggers and held them threateningly at her sides.

"What do you mean," she said calmly. This dude in a wheelchair couldn't do much to her; he didn't even have a weapon. Unless he had a secret bodyguard, or backup, she was fine. Reyna scanned the room quickly for any possible traps, and caught sight of the leopard.

"How did you get here?" Chiron said, alarmed.

"I, I don't know. I don't know who I am. I know I'm not supposed to be here, so if you could just get me out of this place without killing me,"

"You do not know who sent you here?" Chiron asked.

Reyna said nothing. Chiron looked at her closely, and rose from his chair. He had the back half of a horse, but somehow, Reyna wasn't as surprised as she should have been.

_"Do you believe the Greek gods still exist?" _Chiron said.

Reyna said nothing.

_"What is your name?" _Chiron tried again.

_"My name is Reyna; that is all I know about myself."_

Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and examined Reyna.

_"I am Chiron. Welcome to Camp Half Blood. We will not kill you unless you try to kill us. Don't tell anyone else, but you are not from here. You may stay here until we figure out what we can do with you. You see, most demigods cannot speak Latin."_

Reyna's eyes widened. "I, how did I, what did I just do?"

Chiron smiled. "As I said before, you are not from here. You do not belong in this camp. We will find-"

"Find what?" Reyna asked. "Chiron?"

Chiron had stopped mid-sentence with his mouth open, halfway through the next word. Reyna turned, alarmed. Only one person she knew could stop time, and that was- wait, who _did_ she know who could stop time? Was it something from her past? Suddenly, green smoke spewed from the leopard's mouth. A lady in a goatskin cloak appeared in the swirling mist.

"Juno," Reyna said, although she didn't know where it came from.

"You must help me demigod," the goddess said, "You are the one I have chosen. You are the one who must free me."

"Free you? How my lady? If a goddess is not strong enough to break her prison, how can a lowly mortal like me help?"

The goddess smiled quietly. "I cannot help myself, but you can. I did not take your memories for nothing demigod. I cannot break these prison bars on my own. Do not keep me waiting."

The goddess began to dissolve, and Reyna cried out franticly. "What did you do with my memories? How can I get them back? Where do I belong? I need help Juno, why are you doing this to me?"

"Free me," the goddess whispered, then disappeared into the leopard's mouth. Time went back to normal, and the leopard choked on the mist.

"-out why you were sent here later," Chiron finished. "Wait, how did you get over there?"

"You might want to check on your leopard," Reyna said calmly, "It just swallowed green mist."

"Tell me what happened," Chiron said, interested, so Reyna began her tale.

When she had finished, Chiron looked thoughtful and troubled.

"You can consult the oracle tonight," he said thoughtfully. "It seems Lady Juno wishes you to go on a quest."

Suddenly the door slammed open and Piper, Percy, and another girl with fire red hair rushed in and all started talking at once.

"ONE AT A TIME!" Chiron said loudly. Percy, what happened?"

"Rachel grabbed Piper and began talking in someone else's voice, but I got her off before Piper passed out, like that Demeter girl last week."

Rachel blushed. "I don't remember anything."

Piper stood there excitedly. "I have to go on a quest!" she said happily, "I heard what Rachel said, she said 'free me,' only it was in someone else's voice. Someone was trying to talk to me through Rachel."

Chiron exchanged glances with Reyna, then Chiron explained about Reyna's recent experience with the leopard.

Percy blinked. "I can't go with you guys if you're going on a quest," he explained soberly, "Butch picked up a new lead on Annabeth."

"Very well Reyna, you may approach the oracle." Chiron gestured toward Rachel.

"This is weird," Reyna muttered, walking up to Rachel.

"Don't worry," Rachel said calmly.

"Oookay, well, what must I do to rescue Juno?" Reyna asked.

"HERA!" Rachel whispered.

"Hera I mean," Reyna corrected.

Rachel's mouth opened and her eyes glowed green.

"Daughter of battle, beware the earth. The giant's revenge the seven shall birth. The forge and the dove shall break the cage, and death unleashed through Hera's rage." Rachel recited, and her voice sounded tripled. Suddenly, she blinked back to normal, and fell into Percy's arms. Reyna suspected Percy was used to catching Rachel.

"What did that mean?" Reyna asked Chiron.

"I do not know," he said slowly, "But I do know you will lead the quest. You may choose your companions at the campfire tonight."

Dinner was spaghetti with meatballs, only Reyna apparently hated meatballs. She didn't remember any sodas, so she couldn't ask her goblet to fill with anything she liked (all the suggestions from the Hermes cabin were horrible). Piper was sitting way near the back of the table, and Leo was at the Hephaestus table, so she didn't know anyone who sat near her.

The campfire was a little better. Chiron brought up the subject of the quest first thing, and Reyna was glad someone in the camp knew how to get straight to business. Finally, Reyna was called up to select her companions. No one else knew the prophecy, but Chiron had told her that the forge was the symbol of Hephaestus, and the dove was the symbol of Aphrodite. She should choose according to the prophecy, since she wanted to be successful.

Reyna looked around at the group of people. How could she choose two of these campers when she didn't even know them? She licked her lips.

"I'll need someone who can get us transport," she said nervously. "Someone from the Hephaestus cabin preferably."

Leo stood up immediately. "I know how to get transport," he said quickly, "I have an idea of what you need. If I get you transport, can I go on the quest?"

Reyna eyed Leo suspiciously. He was definitely not her first pick, but if he could get transport, he might be helpful.

"Alright," she said slowly, "We'll leave if you can get transport by tomorrow morning."

Leo blinked once, and furrowed his brow. "I, I, great. That's a can do!"

Reyna's expression softened. "You don't have to do this Leo. It won't be easy. If you have your heart set on the quest just because I'm going, you shouldn't come. You're not even trained!"

"You're not either," Leo pointed out, "And heck yea I'm coming if you're coming. I've known you, like, forever, even if it was only a misty memory. Don't think I can't take care of myself sweetheart. I've lived alone in the dumpsters for all my life, minus eight years. As I've said before, weird stuff happens to me, and I got used to it."

Reyna looked at him silently for a moment. It would be an awful hassle to bring Leo along when he was trying to flirt with her all the time. But then again, there was that thing he had with fire. She felt like she had to know what it was. Also, he was the only one who had seen the tattoos on her arm (besides Chiron). He was the only person in the whole camp whom she felt she really knew.

"We'll talk later," she said, "You're on for now. Now I, the prophecy says I need someone from the Ven- the Aphrodite cabin I mean."

The girl called Drew stood up. "It's just got to be me," she said dazzlingly. "I know it's me. I'm the head of the cabin, and besides, I can be very persuasive sometimes." She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Reyna, and Reyna realized Drew really could be an asset. She was pretty, and she'd been at camp a while, so she must be well trained. Diplomatic skills could be important on this quest, and Drew really was persuasive. She could even-

"NO," Piper said, standing up. "It's me." Suddenly Reyna realized Piper was actually right. Drew was annoying, like, seriously annoying, and Piper was pretty good with sticks, according to Butch. Her body looked like it was built for fighting monsters, and she knew Leo and Reyna already, so it would be more comfortable.

"Um, yea right DUMPSTER QUEEN," Drew snickered, "You're not trained. You're not claimed. How can you go on a quest?"

How the Hades had Reyna managed to leave those key facts out? There was no way Piper could go on that quest, she'd need-

Suddenly everyone gasped. Piper was glowing pink, her snowboarding jacket and muddy jeans had been replaced by a soft, flowing Greek dress, she had makeup on now, applied perfectly, and her hair had been done up nicely, hiding each uneven cut and even bringing out her eyes with a colored barrette. Only thing was, you couldn't tell what color her eyes really were.

Everyone was kneeling, so Reyna did the same.

"Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron said respectfully, "Daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper looked horrified, and drew a shining bronze knife to look at her reflection. "She must be freezing cold, she's lost her favorite jacket," Leo muttered.

Well, that was settled. Piper was definitely going on the quest. Drew looked at Piper hatefully, but Reyna didn't bother to notice Drew until she realized Piper would have to share a cabin with her. Wait, if you couldn't go on a quest until you were claimed, how did she manage to get this quest? Chiron had mentioned something about her being claimed somewhere else, but where, and what cabin would she stay in?

Some of the other kids realized that too, because a Dionysus girl shouted "Hey, was Reyna claimed? Who's her parent? If she wasn't, how can she go on the quest?"

Chiron looked nervously at Reyna. "A goddess gave her this quest," he said, "She was already claimed when she got here."

"Who's her parent then?" the girl asked.

No one knew what to say, but Percy piped up. "The prophecy said Reyna was a daughter of battle. That means Athena, right?"

"It could mean Ares," someone else pointed out.

Percy thought a while, then said "Athena is the goddess of battle, but Ares is the god of war. The prophecy said battle, so I guess she should stay in the Athena cabin for now."

Everyone seemed to agree with Percy's reasoning, so the matter was closed. Finally, after fourteen silly songs around the campfire, the campers split up to go to their cabins.

"Come with me," one of the older campers said, leading Reyna toward the cabin with the number 6 over the door and the grey owl flag. "My name's Malcom. I guess you'll be staying in the Athena cabin for a while. This was where Annabeth stayed, she was counselor, and Percy wouldn't have known the difference between battle and war if Annabeth was in a different cabin."

Reyna stepped into the mournful cabin, and suddenly a cold breeze hit her, and terror filled her veins. She couldn't stay in this cabin, it could be any cabin but this. This cabin was different. Annabeth was missing, and it was like a huge chunk of the cabin was missing, but that wasn't the scary part. This cabin knew Reyna didn't belong, and it hated her. Hated her for something she didn't know she'd done, hated her for something she'd never be able to make up. Reyna backed toward the door, but it slammed shut behind her. She whirled around, her hand on the leather pouch by her side, but it was only Malcom.

"Chilly night, huh?" he asked cheerfully, but Reyna could tell his cheerfulness was fake. He switched on the owl lamp at the end of the room and the cabin seemed a bit more cheerful, but it still sent shivers down her spine.

"You can stay on that bunk," Malcom said, pointing toward one of the bottom bunks on the right side of the room. "Sorry, the top ones are all taken. That one's Annabeth's, she would kill anyone who messed with it."

The room seemed one-sided. There were about five bunk-beds on the right side of the room, and each bedpost had a unique owl carved into it. From the outside, it looked like it was made of tin or some other metal, but on the inside, there was a cozy grey plaster all over the walls, with a neat finger drawn design that looked like a row of owls. A clicking sound was coming from behind the left wall, like someone was banging on the side with a stick or something. The cabin was meant to look warm and inviting, she knew, but Reyna felt like a prisoner, like someone who just walked into the enemy's bedroom.

There were four other campers in the room besides Malcom and Reyna. A boy and a girl about the same age were combining their bed quilts and creating a pretty amazing tent, which covered both of their beds. The older boy in the bunk beside Reyna's was snoring already, and a girl with her hair done up in a three foot long braid was tacking up fountain designs on the wall beside her bed.

Reyna slowly sat down on her bed, and even the squeaky springs in the mattress freaked her out. "Um, does anyone here have a notebook or a pen I could use?" she asked hesitantly.

Fourteen pens and three notebooks landed on the bed beside her, and two eager campers who looked about eight years old squirmed up and leaned over the bed, blocking all the light.

"Um, you guys are blocking the light," Reyna said, stifling a laugh at the younger girl's eager face.

"Oh, hi, sorry, my name's Cassie, and his name's Caleb, what's yours? Oh, right, I remember it's Reyna. I like your name. Did you dye your hair brown, 'cause most Athena kids have blonde hair."

"I don't remember," Reyna confessed, "I don't remember anything about myself really."

"No matter, hey, can we help you with your plans?" Reyna looked hesitantly at the girl and the boy.

"Are you two twins?" she asked.

"No," the boy and girl chorused, "We're octuplets!"

"What?" Reyna asked, very confused. Malcom rolled his eyes.

"Yea, we were separated at birth," Cassie explained, "And we're the only two who have made it to camp so far!"

"Um, if you haven't met each other, how do you know you have six other siblings?" Cassie and Carl winked at each other. "We just do," they said. "Come on Reyna, we ALL know how to make good plans."

Reyna looked at Malcom, "All?" she asked. There were only six people in the cabin total, and that seemed like a small amount.

Malcom stood up and walked over to the left wall. He reached up and pulled the gold rope dangling from the ceiling, and the whole left wall slid away like a curtain. With a jolt, Reyna realized it _was_ a curtain. She looked at the newly revealed room in awe.

There were five other campers back there. Two boys were sprawled all over the floor drawing a huge design of what looked like a dinosaur. A girl about eleven was at a weaving loom in the corner, and the tapestry on the loom was obviously an owl. That was the thing making the clicking sound. Another girl, about thirteen, was checking the stock. She had a clipboard in her hand and was looking in every drawer, writing stuff down. Another boy, about fourteen, was sharpening a short sword.

The room was amazing. A dry-erase board at the back of the room made it look like a classroom at first glance, but the desks were all facing the wall, and normal classrooms didn't have armor hanging on the walls. Each desk had a name on it, and although not every desk was messy, there were designs of fountains on every one. A door in the corner was labled "WEAPONRY." There was a weaving loom in one corner (you already know that) and cupboards all over the room, filled with popsicle sticks, glue, and anything else you might need to build a miniature design of just about anything. There was a staircase leading up to the second story, and the writing over the staircase read "LIBRARY" in ancient Greek. Reyna walked hesitantly up to the nearest desk and looked at the fountain design. It was beautiful, but Reyna couldn't understand half of it.

"Why is everyone designing fountains?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, Annabeth is in charge of rebuilding Olympus, it was destroyed this summer, and she let each of us design a fountain."

Cassie and Caleb came trotting up, holding all the pens and notebooks.

"There're extras if you need them," they explained. "Why don't you plan on the dry-erase board so we can all see it?"

The loom stopped. "Battle strategy time?" the girl asked. Well, planning without her new siblings seemed unavoidable now, since everyone had stopped their work eagerly and two more girls came tumbling down the stairs of the library.

Reyna walked nervously to the board.

"Ok," she stammered, "I, we, someone has captured Hera, but we don't know where she is. The storm spirits at the Grand Canyon said something about a 'mistress,' and it could be the same one who captured Hera."

Reyna wrote 'storm spirits' on the board.

"You could track the storm spirits," the boy with the short sword suggested. "Aeolus is the god of the winds, maybe you could see if he knows where they've been, or who's been using them. He might have an idea of where Hera is too, he might be willing to trade storm spirits for information."

Reyna pondered this for a second, then wrote 'Plan A: visit Aeolus' on the board.

"You could check with Ares as a backup plan," the girl from the library said, "He might have an idea where or how Hera was trapped, since he was trapped once himself."

Reyna wrote 'Plan B: visit Ares.'

The girl nodded. "That guy can be, well, let's just say you're right to put him as plan B."

"If both plans fail," the clipboard girl said, chewing on her pencil, "You'll have to, hmm, get help from someone else. I guess you'll have to make it up as you go. I hate not being able to plan ahead." The girl tapped sadly at the floorboards with her pencil.

"ACCESS DENIED!" a panel slid open from the ceiling, showing the words 'INCORRECT PASSWORD' in red lettering.

"Shoot, I really have to get out of these bad pencil habits!" the girl stood up and stomped on the discolored floorboard. "Why did Leroy even invent this stupid floorboard tapping attic code? It's totally pointless!"

"Who's Leroy?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, just a half blood from the Athena cabin," Malcom said, "He died a while ago. Annabeth's the only one who knew him at all, and we just know about him because he built another workshop in the attic only accessible by a code in the floorboards, and because one of the Aphrodite kids in charge of scrapbooking the three years he was in camp had a crush on him and made sure he was on every page of the scrapbooks. Oh, there's also a sword in the big house that has his name on it, only we don't know whose sword that is."

"Well, good luck with your quest Reyna," a girl said, "I'm getting some rest."

All the campers dispersed and either climbed into bed or continued working on fountain designs. Reyna was really tired, and she fell asleep only minutes after climbing into bed.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for all the brilliant reviews last time! I think I have told you enough times that Reyna is not Jason, but NOW I want you to remember that Percy is not Annabeth (for all the people who noticed Piper didn't pass out).

This is my chapter on Camp Half Blood, and I loved writing every word of it. I hope you loved reading it! Now, on with the contest, right? I don't have anything else to say.

Rules of the contest: You should know this one, you just have to remember right. Look it up if you must, but try to go straight from your head. Winners get the next chapter dedicated to them (notice the plural).

* * *

**I am Percy's father's oldest brother's wife. Who am I?**

* * *

And don't forget, tell me how I'm doing!


	4. Chapter 4: Fire Boy

Percy's Father is Poseidon. Poseidon's oldest brother is Hades (Zeus was the youngest, remember?). Hades's wife is Persephone. The winners are...

DuckInTheHat

blankslate37

AwesomeSauce499

Guest (I hope you make an account soon!)

The Invisible Pretender

Congratulations all of you! For those who got Hera, don't worry. VERY easy mistake to make.

* * *

Although Reyna was filled with horrible haunting dreams about the Athena goddess, she woke refreshed and ready to roll out. Slinging her leather bag filled with secret plans and a few provisions over one shoulder, she made her way over to the Aphrodite cabin to collect Piper.

Reyna knocked on the door. Nothing. She knocked on the door again, and it flew open. A small girl with soft curly brown hair and a denim skirt to go with her camp-half-blood T-shirt stood in front of her. When she saw it was Reyna, she whispered "Wait here," and shut the door.

Moments later, Piper, looking very ruffled and carrying a nice backpack, came stumbling out of the cabin. She still had the beauty charm from last night, but she had managed to find a wrinkled camp T-shirt and a pair of loose jeans. A gold knife was clipped on her belt like a phone case. Her brown hair was braided neatly to the side and her makeup was applied perfectly, even though Piper probably hadn't applied any.

"Come on," Reyna said, "Let's get Leo."

Reyna had actually planned to get Piper first, since she might need some help getting Leo. She had only known Piper and Leo a day, but she already knew Leo would probably crack jokes about Reyna coming to his cabin before they needed to leave. She also knew that Piper would probably react badly to that, therefore decreasing the chances of Leo's unwise actions.

Reyna knocked on the door hesitantly.

"LEO!" Piper yelled, "GET OUT OF BED OR WE LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!"

That reminded Reyna, how were they going to reach Aeolus anyway? Leo had said he would take care of transportation, but what would he do? Where was Leo anyway, he wasn't coming to the door.

"Hello?" the door opened and the girl called Nyssa came out, only she had purple jammies and a bedhead this time.

"Is Leo still sleeping?" Piper demanded.

"Yes, but I don't know the code to his bed," she said.

Piper blinked, not knowing how to respond. "Um, isn't there like a horn or something you can blow?"

Nyssa disappeared. She came back 42 seconds later.

"Leo's not in his bed," she said.

"Where is he then?" Reyna asked, a bit worried.

"Dunno," Nyssa said, and shut the door.

Reyna and Piper stood there for a minute.

"What do we do now?" Piper asked, looking at Reyna.

Reyna did not answer, because a huge bronze dragon had come crashing through the woods. Piper screamed, and Nyssa and two other Hephaestus kids rushed outside cursing.

"Leo!" Piper screamed. Sure enough, Leo was sitting behind the dragon's head, grinning as madly as ever.

"Come on you guys!" Leo yelled, hopping off the dragon. "Don't worry Nyssa, it's safe. I fixed it!"

Nyssa was staring open mouthed at the dragon. Her armor was hanging off one shoulder and the ends of her fuzzy purple pants were dragging in the mud.

"Wings," she stammered, amazed. "It has wings!"

"Yup, I found them in a- in the woods." He was wearing a new tool belt as well, he probably got it from the Hephaestus cabin.

Nyssa was suddenly suspicious. "How did you manage to access his head?" she said, "How did you get past the flames without being incinerated?"

Reyna looked at Leo. She had a feeling Nyssa was suspecting something too.

"I'm a lucky kid!" Leo said, ending the subject.

"Well, are you sure it's going to work?" Nyssa said. The dragon tipped its head and spilled oil all over Leo.

"Positive!" Leo said, wiping oil out of his eyes. "Just got a few kinks to work out, that's all."

"Come on Piper," Reyna ordered, "I have a feeling this monster's not going to wait for us."

"Festus, do your stuff!" Leo commanded.

The dragon lowered one wing which folded into a staircase. Leo slid up the banisters. Reyna had no idea how he did it, but at the moment, she didn't care. With a flash of orange, Piper was beside her on the dragon's back, and they were off into the sky.

"So what's Festus?" Reyna asked.

"That's his name, the dragon's name," Leo said, sounding strangely cheerful.

"You know, in Latin, Festus means happy?" Reyna asked, the corners of her mouth twitching. "So we'll be riding off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

"Sure!" Leo said. Reyna wasn't a bit surprised at his strange cheerfulness, he was a strange kid.

Reyna loved the feeling of the wind in her hair. She knew it would have brought back all her happy memories if she had any. It gave her the best feeling, but she couldn't explain it. It was like the happiest moments of her life were spent in the air. Maybe they had been. She remembered the thrill she had felt when Leo had swooped down and rescued her. When he had put his arms around her she had felt like she was safe, safe forever, but it had only lasted a split second before her brain analyzed the situation and automatically steered them to safety.

It didn't come from Leo, she knew. She hadn't known Leo was the one who caught her. Somehow, the fall triggered her memories for a short moment, but they had gone again, just as soon as they had come. Maybe it had something to do with her past.

They flew for several hours. Reyna kept asking Leo if Festus knew where they were going, and Leo kept telling Reyna that Festus was the smartest dragon alive, and that they would either get to Canada, or bust. Then Reyna kept asking Leo how likely Festus was to bust, and Piper had to keep calming them down before one pushed the other off the dragon.

The sun was in the middle of the sky when they flew over Quebec. Reyna looked down over the city, and realized she had no idea where Aeolus's palace was. She'd heard it was a floating island, but where was it? A sharp gleam of light caught her eye.

"Take us down here," she said to Leo. "Right beside that ice castle."

Leo obediently spiraled the dragon downwards, narrowly missing roofs and telephone wires. The dragon skidded to a halt right beside the castle. Piper, Reyna, and Leo slid off the dragon's back and started toward the castle. Suddenly Reyna stopped and put an arm out, preventing Leo from going any further.

"Don't move," she whispered, her eyes scanning the area. Suddenly, there was a great roar, and Reyna rolled to the side, pulling Piper and Leo after her, just as a huge winged guy holding a spear came barreling past.

"Brother, brother, stop!" Another winged kid came running up from the castle. He looked about eighteen.

"Hello Reyna, I am sorry about Cal, again. He forgets. Why are you here again so soon?"

Reyna blinked. "I, um, I need some information," she said, "I am looking for Aeolus's castle, and your dad might be able to tell me where it is. Oh, and I don't remember anything, Juno stole my memories."

The spear man came running back. "Me Cal," he said. "Zethes brother. We destroy!"

"No no," Zethes said quickly, "This is Reyna. Remember Reyna?"

Cal scrunched up his face and shook his head. "Destroy?" he asked Zethes hopefully.

"No," Zethes said, "We will take them to Father. You can destroy dragon and fire boy."

Cal nodded his head and turned to Leo. "Fire is bad," He said, lowering his spear. Reyna realized what he was going to do just at the last minute, and pushed Leo away, deflecting the spear with her dagger.

"No killing Leo," she said, determined. "He and the dragon can stay outside, but no killing him unless you like using your wings as mattress stuffers."

Zethes and Cal frowned. "Fine," Zethes finally said, "Deactivate dragon and leave boy here."

Leo, unsure of what was happening, backed up to Festus and began searching the bronze plates on his neck.

"Aha, here it is!" he pressed a button and the dragon folded into a box about the size of a suitcase. Leo turned around and sat on it. "I'll be waiting," he said, looking at Reyna.

Reyna nodded, hating to leave him here, but she knew she couldn't take him if Zethes said he couldn't come. Somehow she'd befriended this Zethes guy in her past, and she didn't want to undo it too quickly.

"So how is Jason?" Zethes asked Reyna, as they neared the castle.

"I, I don't remember," Reyna said hesitantly.

"Oh, right, sorry," Zethes said. "Ah, here is Khione. Try not to get frozen again." He looked at Reyna sadly. Reyna felt a chill run down her spine. Frozen? Again? What had she gotten them into? Maybe following hunches wasn't such a good plan after all.

"Reyna," said Khione coldly. "How nice to see you again." Reyna got this strange feeling that Khione did not mean that at all, then realized the feeling probably wasn't strange.

"We will see Aquilon," Reyna said slowly.

Khione narrowed her eyes, but turned and led them up the cold stairs.

The palace was stunning. Beautiful ice sculptures were scattered about the room, some of them people, some of them trees, some of them flowers. They entered the throne room, and there was Aquilon, sitting in the center of the room on an ice throne. He was wearing a bed sheet- no wait, that was a toga.

"Bienvenue Reyna, ce qui vous amène ici?" Aquilon asked.

"He says Welcome Reyna, what brings you here?" Khione translated, staring hatefully at Reyna.

Reyna was about to answer, but Piper knelt in front of Boreas.

"I wondered if you could tell us where Aeolus's castle is," Reyna said

"Nous recherchons la connaissance. Voulez-vous nous dire où le palais d'Eole est?" Piper asked, speaking fluently and beautifully in french.

Reyna stared. Aquilon smiled.

"You choose your friends well Reyna," he said, with a heavy French accent.

Khione was obviously displeased with this action, and began "My lord-"

"Reyna is an old friend," Aquilon said, waving his hand dismissively, "And this young lady can speak French very well. We have no more need of your assistance."

"I- I speak French?" Piper asked, confused.

"Ah yes, the language of love. All children of Aphrodite can speak French." Boreas said. "Now, why do you seek Aeolus?" he asked.

"We need to know where Juno is being kept," Piper said, "So we thought he might have some information on that. The loose storm spirits said they were working for a mistress, and Aeolus might know who they were working for or who might have taken Hera. Juno. Whoever."

Piper explained their whole situation so well, Reyna could feel herself reliving the scenes, and when she finally made her plea, Reyna knew how desperate they really were. Piper was getting better at that charmspeak thing for sure.

When she had finished, Aquilon's expression was very strange. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. His image flickered between what he had been wearing and what Reyna had seen some of the kids at camp wearing.

"Boreas?" Piper asked, confused, as he stopped flickering and settled on the tunic.

"Ah yes, my Greek form. Hera plays a dangerous game indeed. I wish I could help you, but sadly, I cannot tell you the exact location of Aeolus's castle. I can, however, provide you with a wind map. Khione!"

Khione came rushing forward, holding a tiny scroll. She looked like she wanted to go jump off of a cliff and freeze the world on the way down.

"Thank you so much Boreas," Reyna said.

"Of course Reyna," he answered, and his smile seemed a bit more evil this time, but it might have only been a trick of the light. "Anything for an old friend. I hope you get your memory back soon."

Reyna nodded, very uncomfortable.

"Ah, that Juno. She plays a very dangerous game. Well, off with you, you have a goddess to rescue. I wish you luck, you will certainly need it. Au revoir!"

"Au revoir, merci beaucoup!" Piper replied politely.

Reyna and Piper started toward the door, Reyna hoping with all her might that Cal and Zethes had not killed Leo. Khione stopped her.

"Do not think you have gone off easy just because your memory has been lost," Khione snarled at her as they left, "I do not forget offenses."

"Whew!" Piper breathed, as soon as they had left the castle. "That girl had serious issues. Boy, am I glad to be out of here. What are we going to do with the wind map?"

Reyna opened the scroll. The grey lines of wind whirled all about the map of Canada, and as Reyna searched the page for an X of some sort, or a castle, or a cloud, Piper pointed to a big swirl of wind near the top left corner.

"You think?" she asked Reyna. Reyna looked closely. You couldn't see anything but the paths of winds on that map, but there were winds swirling round and round that place like a tornado. It had to be there.

"Hey guys, how did it go?"

Reyna looked up from the wind map. Zethes and Cal had their spear points inches away from Leo's neck, Cal staring at a line of ants and Zethes picking his fingernails boredly. Leo grinned away, mindless of the fact that he could be killed at any moment.

"It went great. Zethes, Cal, please give Leo some breathing room, we need to leave now." Piper tucked the scroll into her pocket.

"Of course pretty girl," Zethes said, twirling his spear around three times before slipping it back behind his wings. He sure was a show off.

"Thanks, you guys." Piper gave them a winning smile.

Leo visibly relaxed. "Thanks Beauty Queen. Let's get going shall we?" The dragon spiraled back to life with a touch of Leo's hand.

"Ladies first," Leo said impishly, looking down from the top of the dragon.

"That doesn't make any sense," Piper muttered.

Reyna smiled, in spite of herself. Piper and Leo were fun, once you got to know them.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** That was the last contest. From now on, chapters are dedicated to every reader, not just the contest winners. Good job to everyone who entered, and thanks to everyone who payed attention to the little note at the bottom. of last chapter.

So sorry I didn't get this up until today. I was so busy this last week! Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday morning, the internet was down, but Tuesday evening, I had to do my math. Ugh.

Biggest disappointment: I went to the library, but someone else had The Lost Hero checked out. Couldn't get it for my next chapter. =( I really needed it for my next chapter! So, the next chapter might be even later than this one. Hopefully not. I promised not to abandon this story. I have to keep that in mind.

Lots of Jeyna in this story. It wasn't purposeful, it just happened. I'm not a big Jason/Reyna fan, more of a Jason/Piper fan, but I can't stick Reyna with anyone else, and she did have a huge crush on Jason in the books. In this story, Reyna knows Boreas. Aquillon. Whoever. She and Jason went on different quests, remember? She doesn't know Aeolus, which might come as a problem in the future chapters.

Ok, now tell me, should I write the next chapter with or without assist of the book? It's going to be one crazy crazy chapter if I just make up how Leo kills the Cyclops all over again. See, the parts that I have to make up on my own (how they survive the fall) are easy, but it's where I have to refer to the book that it gets frustrating.

And don't forget to tell me how you liked this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5: See Leo, I TOLD You So

The sun set, and the dragon's eyes shone like streetlights in the dark sky. Reyna could see that Leo's eyes were drooping.

"Two more hours," Leo yawned.

"Get some rest," she told him, glancing back at the snoring Piper. "I'll make sure you two don't fall of the dragon."

"Thanks Rey," Leo mumbled, and immediately collapsed on the dragon's neck.

Reyna looked out through the night. The dragon swooped, and passed through a cloud. A light mist covered Reyna's clothes. Reyna was soon drenched in her own thoughts, wondering why flying brought back her senses, and her feel of safety and home. Reyna lost track of time, but she managed to keep a close eye on Piper and Leo. Apparently she'd had practice with things like this, because every time Piper began to slide off, she'd pulled her back into position before she even realized Piper was falling.

Suddenly, the dragon jolted. With a puff of smoke, it began creaking and groaning.

"Leo," Reyna said nervously, shaking the drooling boy in front of her, "Wake up. Leo, wake up now!" Reyna grabbed a fistful of hair at the top of his head, where it hurt the most, and pulled. Leo jerked awake, and blinked at the dragon with sleepy eyes.

"What? Are we there yet? Who-"

The dragon suddenly shut off and plummeted toward the ground. Leo and Piper were both fully awake now, screaming their heads off.

"Flatten out!" Reyna called, "It slows your fall!"

Leo and Piper flattened out, but they were still falling fast. Reyna glanced over at both of them. Piper and Leo were both screaming, Piper just screaming, and Leo screaming words that Reyna decided to ignore. She knew she could never let one of them die, but at the rate they were falling, it looked like they couldn't be slowed. In a split second, Reyna made her decision. Pushing Piper and Leo back behind her and angling her body just so, she hit the ground. Hard.

With a thump, Piper landed on her. With another thump, Leo landed on her.

"Wow, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Leo said, as he climbed off of the groaning Piper. Reyna, are you ok? Oh crap, Piper, do you know first aid?"

Reyna managed to lift her head. "No, I'm fine, just give me a second," she murmured, and then everything went black.

* * *

Leo looked franticly at the unconscious Reyna. "Quick, Piper, get off her!" Leo yelled, dragging Piper off the purple shirted figure laying before him.

"Ow," Piper winced, looking at her foot.

"Don't tell me you died too," Leo said hopelessly, looking at her foot.

Piper wiggled her ankle a little. "I, I think I can walk on it. I tried to land on my feet; that was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Do you know first aid?" Leo asked again, looking worriedly at Reyna. Her left arm was disfigured and purple, and her left shoulder was so crooked, it made him sick to look at it. Even if Piper knew how to CPR and stuff like that, he had a feeling they wouldn't be able to help Reyna on their own.

Piper looked at Reyna, and then turned away, her face white. "I think ambrosia heals demigods," she whispered, sliding her backpack off of her shoulder and rummaging through it frantically. "Do you know how to set bones?"

"That's what I was going to ask you," Leo said nervously, as he pulled Reyna's leather pouch from her good shoulder.

Piper pulled out a plastic bag of gold brownies and crouched next to Reyna, trying to coax it into her mouth.

"Come on Reyna, wake up," Piper coaxed. Leo felt very alert.

"Here, I'll try to go get help," Leo said, knowing that was their best chance.

He felt in his tool belt and threw a few short sticks, ropes, and blankets beside Piper. "You might need these," he said, before turning away from the broken Reyna and worried Piper.

"Try to get Festus," Piper said, looking back at him, "If you can fix whatever was wrong with him, we might be able to take Reyna to a hospital or something."

Leo nodded, not turning back. He quickened his pace toward the place where he thought Festus fell, making his way through a deserted car lot.

"Festus?" he called, even though he knew the dragon couldn't answer. Turning around a stack of cars, he saw the dragon embedded in a mountain of port-o-potties and sludge. His lights were dead, and his head was smoking and sparking. Leo squirmed through the sludge, not thinking about what the sludge actually was. He opened up the panel behind the dragon's neck, and saw that the circuits were frozen solid. Not a problem for Leo-man, and with a flick of his hand, a dancing flame had melted every drop of ice. He wondered how it could have frozen, since it wasn't a cold night. Suddenly, he did a double take, falling over the dragon's extended arm. A lady's head had formed in the sludge, and he knew the head.

"What do you want, dirt face?" Leo yelled angrily at the sleeping lady. "If you took my dragon down, you're paying big time."

"Valdez," a voice said dreamily. It lured Leo in, but he shook it off quickly. He thanked Piper for the practice, picked up a toilet seat, and flung it at the pile of sludge.

"You killed my mom and smashed my girlfriend! NO one messes with me without paying the prices." Leo screamed, even though Reyna wasn't his girlfriend. He had a feeling he might have been a little less aggressive if Dirt Lady hadn't hurt Reyna and Piper.

The seat sank in the sludge, and for a moment, the sleeping lady frowned. She sank back in the sludge, and Leo felt grateful until he realized he was sinking into the sludge too. Quickly pulling his feet from the goop, he rolled out onto the concrete.

"FESTUS!" he yelled to the now active dragon, "Wait here, I'll get Reyna and Piper."

Leo turned around and began running back toward the spot where he'd left them. Suddenly, he froze. A huge shape loomed up from behind a stack of cars, and firelight he'd overlooked last time he'd passed seemed brighter.

"Leo?" the voice called, and Leo took a great breath in relief. It was only Piper. Wait, how could Piper make a fire? Leo stopped, wary of his surroundings.

"Leo? Where are you? We need help!" the voice called, then changed abruptly "Told you there was no one," Leo almost wet his pants. It wasn't Piper at all; it was a huge nasty low scratchy voice. When the gigantic shape walked out of sight, Leo knew it must be something big and bad. And how did it know he was there? How did it know how to talk in Piper's voice? Slowly, Leo snuck around the stack of cars.

Three Cyclops were sitting around a fire, and Piper and Reyna were hanging upside down in full view. Piper was gagged and struggling, but Reyna was just hanging limp in her ropes, but her face was a little bit more hopeful, and it looked like Piper might have succeeded with the ambrosia.

Leo reached in his tool belt. Things were about to get rough for those Cyclops.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I have good news, good/bad news, and bad news.

The good news, is that my writers block went away. Completely. I was able to write two full chapters in less than two days! Of course, I can't get them both out at the same time, since one still needs lots of editing.

The bad news is that I still do not have the book. After much pacing around the room, banging my head against my laptop, and typing up random Connellen fics (is that what you call it? Connor/Lou Ellen?) I have decided. The part where Leo fights the Cyclops will have to be skipped. We will go straight to Meda's fortress, when Reyna wakes up. Throw rotten tomatoes at me if you wish. I don't mind. I'm wearing a stained shirt anyway. Besides, it was either that, or a month of waiting for the next library trip.

The good/bad news is that I have somehow managed to cover at least 25 chapters in only 5. I myself cannot exactly figure out how I did that. I skipped Leo and Tia Callda, I skipped Bunker 9 and the tobasco sauce, I skipped Piper's little girl talk (since that couldn't have happened this way) and I skipped her dreams, but how did I skip 20 chapters? That can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it, and I am not sure myself.

Ha! I believe this is the first time I have gotten this story updated at night instead of morning! That means different readers will be on fanfic, and I will get more followers, since my story will appear in the "Just In" section. And two days early, I am proud of me. Maybe three days early, I think I was late last time. Aren't you amazed at my wicked advertising skills?

And for the amazingly dedicated readers who probably don't exist, the Connellen stuff I mentioned earlier is not out yet. Don't bother looking it up.

As always, review! Will you hate me for skipping your favorite part, or will you agree with me that skipping that was necessary in order to keep a continuous update? Wow, the Author's Notes are hopelessly long this time. I will cease begging for reviews, because I know you all know how much I love them.


	6. Chapter 6: Duct tape fixes anything

Reyna opened her eyes. Everything looked hazy, but as her surroundings slowly came into focus, she realized that she was in a sewer. Firelight danced on the pipes, and Leo and Piper were huddled around.

"REYNA!" Piper said in relief. She threw her arms around Reyna and gave her a huge hug. Reyna screamed in pain.

"OhmygoodnessImsosorryReynaareyouok?" Piper asked worriedly. She looked terrified.

"Why are we in a sewer?" Reyna asked, "And how did Leo start a fire?"

Leo grimaced and held out his hands. Tiny flames danced on his fingertips.

"Isn't it great?" Piper asked, cheering up again. "Leo's a fire user!"

"Start from the beginning," Reyna said, trying to pull herself into a sitting position and failing miserably. Piper helped her up and began.

"So, you sacrificed yourself to save us," Piper began proudly, "Then Leo went off to find the dragon. Just as he left, these Cyclops ambushed us. They sounded exactly like you Reyna," Piper said, and her voice quivered.

"It was really creepy. I had no idea what was going on. They tied me and you up and brought us over to their campfire. I tried to buy time, but they wouldn't believe you were infected. They said a son of Mercury in a purple shirt said that and he still tasted good anyway." Piper looked at Reyna, as if she expected Reyna to know who the Mercury kid was.

"Sorry, don't know him," Reyna said. "Go on."

"Leo came back, rigged the machines to bust the two kid Cyclops's, and then crushed Ma Gasket with fire!" Piper finished, gleefully.

"With fire?" Reyna asked.

"Yes, he melted a chain and smashed her."

Leo blushed. "Hungry?" he asked, offering her a sloppy hamburger. "Tofu doesn't taste that bad after all. You want some, Piper?"

Reyna shook her head, and winced. She did not feel like eating. She gingerly ran her good arm over her ribcage.

"I think I broke a rib, broke my arm, broke my collarbone, and dislocated my shoulder.

"Wow." Piper said, amazed. "How do you know this stuff?"

"Don't know," Reyna said, annoyed. "I never know, so don't ask me anything." She slumped down, frustrated with herself. Of course, she'd planned it all. She hadn't broken her whole ribcage, or her neck, or her legs, or her feet, or her skull, or her wrist, or her spine. She was lucky. No, not really. She was strategic.

"Leo, let Piper finish cooking," Reyna commanded. Both Leo and Piper burst into protest.

"I'm no good! I'll burn the burgers! I'm nervous around fire! I've never done it before!" Piper said desperately.

"She's no good! I've done this all my life! She'll burn the burgers!" Leo complained.

"Ok, Piper can set my shoulder and Leo can continue cooking." Reyna said. Piper and Leo exchanged looks, and Piper immediately picked up the spatula.

Leo scooted closer to Reyna. "So, you want me to set your shoulder?" he asked hesitantly. "I don't exactly know how."

"Oh, I'm aware of that," Reyna said, brushing a spider off of her pants casually. "First, do you have any bandage in your magic tool-belt? We also need something that will work as a splint."

Leo pulled out a roll of duct tape and two wooden boards about the size of a ruler.

Reyna shrugged. "That'll do. Now first, set my arm. Can you tell which way it needs to go? Just grab my wrist and pull out until it straightens itself." Leo studied Reyna's swollen arm, and gently put one hand on her wrist. Very slowly and carefully, he tried to line it up with the rest of her arm.

"LEO!" Reyna gasped. "Don't do it slowly. That just makes the pain last longer. Remember, the bones in the lower arm twist as they come down. They aren't perfectly straight."

Leo tried again. When he'd finished, the arm still didn't look quite right, but after Reyna ran her fingers along the break, she pronounced it good enough.

Leo put the two ruler things on the front and back of her arm. He pulled a gardening glove from his toolbelt, ripped it in half, and wrapped the tape around the splints, with the two halves of the glove acting as padding. Reyna winced, but when it was done, it even looked a bit straighter.

"Thank you for considering my comfort and using a glove. Now you straighten my collarbone. Take my arm with both hands, one just above the elbow and one just below. Ow. Ow ow ow. Never mind, it doesn't hurt. Ow. Ok, push it up until I say to stop."

Leo pushed. Reyna screamed for him to stop.

"GODS that hurt," she gasped. "No Leo, you don't push it in, you push it up. We need to line up my collarbone."

Leo tried again. Reyna bit her lip until it bleed, but she didn't scream until the bone had lined itself up.

"Stop," she said. Leo stopped immediately.

"It's not level," he noticed.

"Well of COURSE it's not level. My shoulder's dislocated too, remember?"

Leo mumbled "Oh," but said nothing more as he unrolled a layer of duct tape.

"Now, strap it to my other shoulder. Over under. Good, no wait, you've got my shirt wrinkled." Reyna looked up. "Done," she announced.

Leo fell over backwards. "WHEW!" he said gratefully. His face was flushed. Piper hesitantly uncovered her ears and straightened from her huddled position. Reyna laughed a little, as the smell of burning tofu filled the sewer.

"Glad I don't have to do that again," Leo confessed.

"Actually, you do." Reyna told him. "My shoulder, remember?"

"And then your RIB?" Leo asked, helplessly.

"No." Reyna said. "I think a few squares of ambrosia will have to fix that."

Leo rolled his eyes and took Reyna's arm again. "Which way do I push it?" he wondered aloud.

"You don't push, you twist," Reyna said. "Clockwise. One hard twist. NO! GODS no. The other clockwise, brilliant! Start from the top, go right."

Leo rolled his eyes and jerked her arm again. It popped, and Reyna gasped with pain, then sighed in relief. She realized that tears were streaming down her face.

Leo closed his eyes and turned away. Piper dumped the smoking remains of a meal into the fire. Reyna composed herself, then looked around.

"Why are we in a sewer?" she asked. "And what does 'M' mean?"

"We tracked the storm spirits," Piper explained. "We need a gift for Aeolus, remember? We also thought that whoever lives in this 'M' mansion could help you. We decided to enter through the sewers, so we would have less chance of being ambushed."

"Where are we?" Reyna asked. "What city?"

"Chicago." Leo said. He started his miniature steam engine and watched it chug down the tunnels and out of sight.

"You should've given it a headlight." Piper said, dully.

"And a whistle." Leo added. The mood was damp. Everyone was exhausted. Piper handed Reyna two squares of ambrosia. They tasted like warm, buttery, baked potatoes, and it seemed to help her rib.

"Um guys?" Reyna asked. "I had this dream. Hera told me my greatest mortal enemy would be in Chicago. I'm not so sure about this."

Piper and Leo exchanged glances.

"Whoops," Leo said.

"But we had no choice," Piper pointed out. "Miss M what's-her-name has the storm spirits."

"Oh I didn't say I wasn't ready to face my greatest mortal enemy," Reyna corrected, "I just said I wasn't sure about _this_. How do you know the storm spirits are in the building? How do you know we aren't walking straight into a trap?"

Piper pulled the wind map from her backpack and waved it.

"Oh," Reyna said, and felt foolish. Leo stood up and hit his head on the top of the sewer.

"Well, let's get going!" he said, rubbing his head and helping Reyna up.

"Leo?" Reyna asked shyly "Could you, um,"

"What?" he smirked, waggling his eyebrows.

Reyna turned red. She hated it when Leo misinterpreted her emotions.

"I was going to ask you to show me how you can use fire again," she said, a bit angrily.

"Sure your highness," Leo said, leaning back against the walls and casually stretching his fingers out, so that a little flame burned on his palm. His twinkling eyes studied Reyna's face, daring her to top his magnificent performance.

"Leo, really. This is getting old." Piper groaned, heaving her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Where're we going?" Leo asked.

"When in doubt, start at the top."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Really sorry I had to skip the Cyclops part, I was looking forward to it. I think that _because_ it was my favorite part in the book, I had to either do it right, or skip it. I hope the Leo-humor in this chapter made up for the lack of Leo-awesomeness in the chapter that I skipped.

Nothing else to say, except that I hope you liked this chapter! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7: Reyna, that was just sick

Piper had her doubts before they even entered the sewers, but when she actually saw what that mall sold, she was really worried.

Shelves of bottles with different colored liquids lined the walls. Some were glowing, some were sparkling, and there were random empty bottles that Piper suspected contained invisible liquid. Her first thought was nail polish, but after reading the lables, she realized that they were, how do you say, potions. Yes, potions.

There were potions for healing any kind of disease, potions for poisoning rats, potions for restoring memory, wait, restoring memory? That would be perfect for Reyna!

Piper was snapped out of her daze by a woman's voice.

"Customers! Wonderful! And who might you pretty little children be?" Piper hastily turned the corner to find Reyna and Leo standing near a tall woman, as if entranced.

"I'm Reyna, this is Leo," Reyna said.

"You're, you're M?" Leo asked.

"Yes dear. Would you like to buy something?"

"Uh, of course. Maybe this acid, or the poison?" Reyna suggested.

"Yes! Of course! Come this way, we have some spectacular deals."

Piper had a horrible sinking feeling, but she followed Miss M down the stairs to the next level.

"Wow, check these out! Leo said, holding up two orange camp t-shirts. Piper saw them, and felt sick. One was shredded by what looked like huge claws, and one was peppered with bullet holes. All the other clothes were like that too, there was a suit of armor with a spear hole in the middle, and a toga with a reddish brown stain that looked suspiciously like blood. Piper almost threw up when Reyna held up a burned purple shirt that looked almost exactly like her own and asked if Leo thought it was her size.

"Guys, stop," she said, realizing for the first time that they were under some sort of spell. "We need to leave. Now."

"But my dear!" Meda said, looking at Piper in amazement, "They haven't chosen what they are going to buy!"

Piper hesitated, remembering the potion for restoring memory. "Who are you, really?" she asked. She wasn't Medusa, or a muse, or Medea, or, no wait, could this lady be Medea? But Medea died trillions of years ago!

The lady looked at Piper with a strange light in her eyes.

"This way my dears, the things you are looking for are only one floor down."

Piper, Reyna, and Leo followed M down the next flight of stairs, Piper examining her surroundings warily.

There were cages and cages of creatures on this floor. Hydras, three headed dogs, hellhounds, and were those storm spirits? Yes!

"We need this," Piper announced, holding up the cage of swirling winds.

"Yes dear, that can be arranged, for a price of course." M said, "But would you like anything else?"

Piper hesitated. M was standing right in front of a fountain. The water was bubbling, no boiling. Where had Piper seen this before? Wait, she hadn't seen this before, she'd read about it before.

"Medea!" she gasped. "You are Medea! Reyna, Leo, don't listen to her! She's a crazy woman who killed her brother and children and tricked some innocent girls into killing their father! This is Medea! The original Medea, like, with Jason!"

Medea snarled. "Do not speak that name," she said, angrily. "It was his fault. Besides, I didn't kill my children, the townspeople did! As for killing my brother, he drove me to it! He promised I would be his wife, then abandoned me!"

"How unfair!" Reyna gasped.

"No, Reyna, listen! Jason left her because she had become a bloodthirsty monster! Don't trust her!"

Medea turned to Piper, a queer smile on her face. For a second, Piper thought she saw a skeleton in flowing robes, but it must have been a trick of the light, because Medea looked as real as ever.

"Reyna, Leo," Medea said, in a stern voice, "I command you to fight each other. Do not worry, if you are hurt, I can simply dip you in my fountain and you will come out young again."

Reyna and Leo turned towards each other. Reyna flipped her knitting needle daggers out and twirled them expertly. Leo drew a huge hammer from his toolbelt.

"Leo, you're so annoying. I never meant to take you on this quest, I just said you could come because I wanted to shut you up. You've been a big drag on our progress."

"Reyna, you always act like you're in charge. You never let any of us put our thoughts in and you always act like we're doing things wrong."

"Guys, please! Just stop!" Piper begged. "Medea's tricking you! You don't need to fight! Lay down your weapons!" Piper put as much power into her voice as she could, but she didn't know if it would work.

"No, you never liked each other! Fight!" Medea commanded. Reyna and Leo paused, then rushed at each other, daggers and hammer clanging.

Even with Reyna's broken arm and collarbone, she still put up a brilliant fight, dodging every swing of Leo's hammer.

"STOP guys!" Piper screamed. Hopefully they wouldn't tear each other apart just yet. Neither Reyna nor Leo was winning.

"Fight!" Medea commanded. Suddenly, Reyna did something that surprised all three of them. Slipping her daggers into her bag, she charged at Leo, pushed aside his hammer, and kissed him.

"WHAT?" Medea said, outraged. Piper was just as amazed, until she spotted the dagger Reyna clutched in her good hand, ready to stab Leo in the heart. Leo had given into his emotions, and his hammer dropped to the ground.

Piper knew this was her only chance to save her friends. Medea was off guard, and if she didn't act now, Leo was good as dead.

"REYNA! LEO! STOP!" she shouted, pouring all her emotion into her words. Reyna broke away, her dagger clattering to the floor. She'd done it!

"What? Impossible!" Medea said.

"Let's get out of here!" Piper yelled. Suddenly, a huge dragon burst through the roof, shattering glass and clothes racks.

"NO!" Medea screamed. "My potions! They're explosive! Look what you've done!"

"Come on guys," Reyna commanded, hoisting Leo up onto the dragon and climbing on after him. "Piper, grab my hand!"

With a whoosh, Piper, Leo, the cage of storm spirits, and Reyna were back into the sky. Looking down, Piper saw the store erupt in flames.

"Piper," Reyna said in amazement. "You saved us."

Piper blushed modestly.

"Yea, thanks beauty queen, we would have killed each other had it not been for you."

"Reyna?" Piper said.

Reyna sighed. "Yes?"

"What you did in the factory, was that really you? Was that Medea charming you into doing something, or…?" Piper was really a bit frightened. Had she really been best friends with a girl who would do something as cruel as what she had been going to do to Leo? Someone who toyed with other people's emotions and preyed on weaknesses?

"No," Reyna said, looking out into the night. "I think that was me. I'm really sorry Leo. I didn't mean all those things about you, and I certainly wouldn't have kissed you like that if Medea hadn't been enchanting me. I mean, if you turned out to be a double agent and had to be gotten rid of, I might have, but I didn't really- I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," Leo said, but his face was like stone. Piper could tell he was really mad and a bit hurt.

"Leo, I'm sorry! I don't know why I did it; it just seemed like what I had to do." Reyna begged.

Leo shook his head. "I thought you were better than that, Reyna," he said.

Reyna looked like she was about to cry, which was a bit of a shock to Piper, considering Reyna didn't seem like the type of person who cries. But perhaps Piper didn't know Reyna as well as she thought she did.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I'm a bit ashamed of this chapter, since it's so short, a bit sloppy, and since I haven't edited half as much as I should have. Sorry guys, this is definitely not my best work.

And now for some explaining. Yes, the story ends on a bad note, but don't worry, I'm planning some major Reyna-awesomeness next chapter. I was a bit nervous making this chapter, and when I'm nervous, things don't tend to turn out right, but I was not about to chicken out and skip this part. I am positive I have the different floors wrong, but it was the best I could do. Feel free to drop an editing comment, I would appreciate that greatly.

And have you noticed the pattern? Reyna saves them, Leo saves them, Piper saves them. Example: Reyna saves them on the Grand Canyon, then Leo saves them by bringing Festus, then Piper saves them by talking French to Boreas, then Reyna saves them by breaking their fall, then Leo saves them by taking out the Cyclops, then Piper saves them by taking out Medea, then Reyna saves them by taking out King Midias, and so on. Well, it might end there actually. I don't remember.

For those of you that hate emotional conflicts, DO NOT WORRY! I hate them too, and this one will be resolved at the end of the next chapter. I was really actually ashamed at what Reyna did here, I wrote it out, then was like "Reyna! I can't believe you would do that! That's completely barbaric and inconsiderate and cold and... well, and Roman really." Then I mentally punched myself for making the circumstance unavoidable and refusing to edit it out. Well, Romans will be romans, and my keyboard will just keep typing random things over which I have no control.

I want to give a special thank you to The Invisible Pretender, who was the only reviewer last time. You guys made me feel really bad about that chapter. =( Well, not really. I can't hold grudges for some reason. Just make sure to review!

Reviewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewre viewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewreviewrevi ewreviewreviewrevieW!

**Write your opinion of the story here**


	8. Chapter 8: Traps and Lasers

Even though Reyna loved the feel of the cool night air on her face, it did nothing to blow away her problems. They were still there, hanging in her face, taunting and haunting her.

Piper hadn't let her sit anywhere near Leo. Reyna was stuck in the back, Piper in front, and Leo, well, Leo was in the front of course.

Silent tears rolled down Reyna's face. Her only two friends had abandoned her, her shoulder hurt, her arm hurt, her collarbone hurt, her pride hurt, her heart hurt, and her bottom was sore, since the swinging of the dragon's tail kept grinding her jeans in between the plates of metal. She had a perfectly fine excuse for crying, but even still, her brain was going "No! Don't let them see you cry! Cut the tears! Crying is bad! Weak girl! You're a sorry excuse for a Roman, you sniveling pathetic-" wait, Roman? Never mind. Reyna was too mixed up in her other emotions to care about her crazy memories. If they wanted to pop up at her, they could go ahead and do it, but she was _not_ paying any attention to them.

"Piper, do you think-?"

"Yea, you can go ahead and get some rest Leo."

"But what if I-"

"I'll watch you so you don't fall off."

"What if I've forgotten something?"

"What could you have forgotten?"

"What if we run into trouble?"

"Well, you'll wake up, duh."

"Right, but-"

"Leo," Piper sighed.

"Ok, it's just that I have a bad feeling about this."

"Then don't go to sleep."

"Fine. Actually, forget everything I just said, I'm taking a nap."

"Finally!"

"Yea, whatever." Leo slumped halfheartedly down onto the neck of the dragon.

Piper glanced warily back at Reyna. "If you push him off- Reyna? Are you crying?"

"NO, I am NOT crying, so mind your own business." Reyna said sharply. Piper looked surprised, but obediently turned back.

"Sorry," Reyna muttered. "WHY would you think I would push him off?" Piper didn't say anything.

Reyna wiped away her tears. "Piper, I really don't think Leo should be sleeping right now," she said.

"He's exhausted, he deserves a break. Especially after what just happened."

"Look, Piper, I said I was sorry. Besides, it's not about what he deserves. I have a bad feeling about this, and I know we can't have Leo absent if something goes wrong. What if we _do_ crash, Piper? What if Leo wasn't being so irrational?"

"Reyna, stop being so cold hearted. Sometimes, people just need a break, ok? I can handle it. If anything bad happens, we just wake him up."

Reyna gripped the dragon's back. Piper didn't get it. This wasn't about Leo. This wasn't about her. This was about the success of the quest. If they took any more chances, if they risked the dragon just because Leo needed a break, if something went wrong, well, they just _couldn't_ afford to lose time. The fate of the world was at stake, and Reyna was not ready to take chances. Piper thought she was being mean, but she was being practical.

A few minutes went by. Maybe ten. Maybe thirty. If she had concentrated on it, she would have known it was about 45 minutes, but she wasn't concentrating.

Come to think of it, Reyna had even been the one who noticed their old goat buddy in a cage beside the storm spirits and remembered to grab him as they left. Piper was carrying both cages, yet she hadn't even bothered to thank Reyna for remembering the important thing. Reyna sighed. She supposed she deserved to be shunned, but she really missed her old sense of comfort and alliance.

"You knew they would betray you," a small voice said in her head. "Even now, the girl's mind is elsewhere. Can you trust her? Will she betray you? Is she tearing the quest apart purposefully?"

"Shut up brain," Reyna whispered. Suddenly, she noticed a burning smell in the air, and a taste of carbon in the wind. For a split second, she froze in fear and realization, then the dragon jolted.

"Piper, wake Leo up," Reyna commanded, keeping her voice calm and level. The dragon swerved again.

Piper was panicking. "What's going on?" she said.

"JUST WAKE LEO UP! LEO! GET UP!" Reyna said, not bothering to keep her voice down any longer. Piper jostled him. "LEO!" she screamed.

"I TOLD you he shouldn't go to sleep!" Reyna scolded.

"Look, I'm sorry, you were right, but-" The dragon jolted again, and Piper screamed.

Reyna reached past Piper and gave Leo a solid kick below his knee. He stirred, but didn't wake.

"Demigod dream," Piper said, worriedly. Reyna knew exactly what she meant.

That's when the dragon took a dive. Leo snapped up almost immediately. "Woah, Festus? What's going on, buddy? Hey, pull up! We're going to crash!"

The dragon pulled up at the last minute possible, angling his body so that Reyna, Piper, and Leo were tilted sideways. Piper screamed.

"GET PIPER OFF THIS THING!" Leo yelled, "I'LL TAKE FESTUS!" Reyna understood immediately, and let go of the dragon, pulling Piper off and landing on the ground in a roll. As she stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans, she noticed something.

"Piper, don't move," she commanded. Slowly, Reyna pulled Piper a few feet forward.

"Ok, stand up, but be careful not to touch the lasers." Reyna said.

"What lasers?" Piper asked. "Oh."

"LEO!" Reyna screamed, "GET OFF THE DRAGON! IT'S A TRAP!"

"I'M TRYING!" Leo called. With one last creak, the dragon plummeted toward ground. Reyna winced as the lasers sliced right through it, positive Leo was toast.

"LEO!" Piper screamed, running toward the wreckage.

"NO!" Leo sobbed, "Festus, no!"

Leo was alright. Leo was safe. Leo hadn't gotten chopped up by lasers. Reyna pushed her hair out of her face as she felt a huge weight go off her chest.

Leo was holding the dragon's head, his eyes closed, tear streaks going down his grimy face. He cradled Festus's flickering remains sadly. Finally, he stood up, and held the dragon's head out into the open air. With a shimmer, it had gone. Reyna didn't question him.

"So," Piper said, standing up, "Let's check out this mansion."

"And maybe we'll find some sort of way to open the cage," Reyna suggested.

"Oh, I can do that," Leo said, halfheartedly. "Not that complex. It's just one of those latch thingies. Wait Piper, I wouldn't do that if I were you. There're traps."

"Traps?" Piper asked, stunned.

"Yea. On the railing. And the stairs. And the welcome mat." Leo slowly walked over to the front porch and disabled all the traps. He walked right up to the door and twisted the handle. Reyna braced herself for an explosion, but nothing happened.

"It's not locked," he commented.

"Ok," Reyna said, "Let's check this out. Whoever has this much protection and an unlocked door must be at least a little insane."

They went in, Leo looking around for traps dully, Piper lugging the two cages, and Reyna brandishing her two daggers threateningly. Reyna had tried to take both cages and let Piper off, but Piper noticed how the cages made Reyna's collarbone feel almost immediately.

Leo set to work on the cage at once. "Not that hard, see?" he declared, as the door swung open. Coach Hedge leapt up, brandishing his club.

"What? Where am I? Why is everything gold?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? Ev- whoa," Piper said.

Suddenly, the lights came on, and Reyna was momentarily blinded. _Everything_ was gold. The walls, the ceiling, the statues, the chandeliers, the chairs, the tables, the window frames, the carpets, everything. Reyna had a horrible sinking feeling in her chest. Then she noticed the old man in the doorway of another room, his hand frozen on the gold light switch, and a gold toothbrush in his mouth. For a split second Reyna thought he was a statue too, but he straightened and called

"LITYERSES!"

_That's_ when Reyna knew they were dead.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Very sorry for the delay on updating. I_ know_ I promised some awesome Reyna moments this chapter, but as it turns out, I couldn't manage to fit that part in! To make it up to you, I'll post the next chapter within 6 days. Unless I don't.

BUT anyways, remember to review! Hmm, don't have much to say this time, do I... I'm tired. Yes. That must be it. Hope you liked it! I did. Sort of. =P


	9. Chapter 9: Brains over Brawn

Reyna's mind was hardwired with battle strategies and natural instincts. Whenever their group was threatened, half of her felt the urge to attack immediately without any plan of any sort, but the other half held her back, strategizing and remembering and considering the objective. So, when the huge, ripped, sandy haired, sword wielding guy came charging into the room, Reyna was thinking something along the lines of

Situation status: Threatening

Solution: Attack and kill threat

Solution pros: No more threat

Solution cons: Possibly dead me, and unfriendly old man

Probability of success: Very high, if sword-fighter-guy isn't more challenging than he looks

Conclusion: Continue with solution

Apparently Coach Hedge thought the same thing, because he raised his club and yelled "DIE!"

Reyna would have charged the Lityerses guy, and Coach Hedge along with her. Piper, luckily, was not the fighting type.

"STOP! Put down your weapons," Piper said. They all stopped, and Lityerses lowered his sword. "Look, this is all probably a misunderstanding. Maybe we can, uh, clear this up? I mean, we are sort of trespassing in their house, and we don't want to kill people we don't have to." Piper gave a meaningful look at Coach Hedge and Reyna.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Finally, the old man broke the silence.

"Well," he said, "Quite right. Now that you're here, you might as well sit down." Reyna exchanged glances with Leo and Piper. Were the couches booby trapped or something?

"Allow me to introduce myself." The old man continued. "I am king Midas."

"Midas? No way. He died like two thousand years ago!" Coach Hedge bleated.

Midas frowned. "Yes, I do seem to remember a time…"

"But it was all very fuzzy," Lit continued.

"Anyway, I'm back now. Wonderful country, America is."

Piper eased herself onto a couch, and everyone else followed her lead.

"You didn't happen to have a patron, did you?" Leo asked.

"What does it matter?" The king responded, his eyes twinkling.

Reyna didn't blink, but she'd noticed Midas had avoided the question.

Piper frowned, trying to remember something. "Didn't you, like, turn things into gold? A god had gifted you-"

"Ah yes, Dionysus. I saved a favorite satyr of his. And in return, he gave me the golden touch. Wonderful, isn't it Lit? So much you can buy with gold these days."

"But wait, didn't you give up the golden touch?" Piper asked, "You realized how foolish you had been when you turned your own daughter to gold. So-"

"My dear girl," The king said, looking offended. "Did the stories ever say I had _given up_ my golden touch?"

"Well no, but-"

"Good."

"But wasn't that the moral?" Piper asked, looking very confused.

"Are there morals in real life?"

"Well no." Piper admitted.

"You see, I didn't give up my golden touch, I just learned how to reverse it." The king said. "My daughter, she's over there. She was getting annoying, so I turned her back to gold after a while."

Reyna's suspicions grew. Coach Hedge narrowed his eyes.

"We live next to a river, just in case. See, I occasionally forget and pat Lit on the back-"

"I hate that," Lityerses muttered.

"But we don't have running water in the house. We don't want any accidents." The king gestured to his many gold statues.

"Let me see here, give me your backpack. Oh don't worry, you'll get it back."

Piper hesitantly emptied the backpack and tossed it to the king. As soon as his hand touched the fabric, a frost of gold spread over the backpack. When he threw it back to Piper, it was much heavier.

"Still flexible, worth a lot more, and now magic," the king declared. "Go on, put your storm spirit buddies in there."

Leo was suddenly interested.

"Really?" he asked, excitedly lifting the cage to the backpack. Piper unzipped the backpack and the storm spirits were sucked in, slamming the cage door behind them. Piper quickly zipped the backpack back up.

"Anyway, are you investors? Come to buy gold? I've got the lowest prices anywhere! I can promise, I'll beat any other dealer's-"

"We didn't come to buy gold," Piper interrupted, "Actually, I think we can leave now. Thanks for the backpack."

"Ah, but you can't leave," the king said, smiling pleasantly. "I give all my guests a choice, of course. They may be turned into gold, or they may be killed by Lityerses. Either is fine."

Piper stood up, "Wait, no, you can't-"

Faster than an old man should have been able to move, King Midas sprang up and grabbed Piper's wrist.

"No!" Leo and Reyna yelled, but it was too late. "Sorry my dear," the king said as the gold statue of Piper clattered to the floor. "You were a smart one."

Leo backed up, and Reyna clutched her daggers warily. The king straightened. Reyna tensed. Suddenly, he spun around. There was a burst of movement as Reyna flipped herself over the couch and threw one of her daggers at the king, Coach Hedge swung his club and smacked Lityerses full in the face, and Leo fell backwards over the gold coffee table.

"LEO!" Reyna yelled, as the king casually dodged her dagger and reached for Leo's foot. Leo tried to kick aside his hand, but the king's fingertips slightly brushed Leo's ankle, and in a heartbeat, Leo was solid gold.

Reyna couldn't believe it. Both Piper and Leo gone before she could do anything. Coach Hedge was fighting Lityerses, no wait, the king had just turned him to gold as well. Three seconds to come up with a plan. Two. One.

"Wait," Reyna said, before the king could touch her, "You said we could choose. I choose to fight Lityerses."

"Very well," the king said, eyeing Reyna's broken collarbone warily. "But I said be killed, not escape, mind you."

Reyna nodded wordlessly, and aimed her last dagger.

"Is that gold?" the king asked.

"Imperial gold." Reyna answered, keeping her eyes on the looming swordsman in front of her. Lityerses casually plucked a leaf out of his hair, lowered his sword, and charged.

Reyna quickly rolled out of the way, launched off of the sofa, and plunged the sword into Lityerses's back. Lityerses yelled and threw Reyna off. She stood up shakily and grabbed her other dagger, wincing in pain from her broken collarbone.

Lityerses crouched on the floor. His back didn't leak golden dust like other monsters. Perhaps that was because he wasn't a monster. But how did he regenerate when he wasn't a monster? Dirt lady must be really powerful if she can bring back dead heroes. Or, in this case, villians.

Lityerses flickered, his skin becoming transparent for a quarter of a second, and something clicked in Reyna's mind. All the puzzle pieces fit together. A cage made from dirt. A face in the potty sludge. Gaea. The earth. If Lityerses had been brought back by Gaea…

Reyna's vision went fuzzy, and a ringing sounded in her ears. Gaea. Where had she gotten that? Lityerses stood up, shook himself off, and charged.

Reyna calculated her plan, as she dodged out of his way, listing off every idea she could come up with. Maybe the chandelier would work? But no, there was an easier way.

Ha. Gold was definitely heavy. Reyna picked up a gold lamp and threw it at Lityerses, knocking him into the king.

"What?" King Midas sputtered, pinned to the wall by a gold statue of Lityerses, "What have you done?"

He pushed the statue off of him and patted its shoulder. "Sorry son," he said, then turned towards Reyna.

"You will pay for that," he spat. Ah yes. The chandelier would do nicely. Or maybe even the couch. Reyna's brain, luckily, had not snapped like her collarbone. Even if she couldn't kill Midas, dangling him from the chandelier would certainly allow her to rescue Piper and Leo. Oh, and Coach Hedge.

Reyna dodged Midas's furious swipe, but his fingertips grazed her shirt, and her purple t-shirt shimmered, and then was purple no more. Reyna needed to move quicker, but her shoulder screamed protest as she slid under the gold coffee table, dodging Leo's statue carefully. Her time to act was now. Since she hadn't come up with a way to keep the king on a swinging chandelier, she decided to go with plan B.

Just a few more dodges put the king into a good position. He ran toward Reyna, who was seeming to cower behind the couch. With a great effort, Reyna tilted the couch forward onto two legs, and charged at the king, pushing the couch in front of her.

The couch, tilted on its two front legs, pinned the king to the wall. The back of the couch was pressing into his neck, right under his chin. His arms flailed desperately, trying to reach Reyna, but his arms only reached half way down the back of the couch. Reyna kept the couch propped up with one foot, reached for a gold lamp, and jammed it underneath. Within minutes, Reyna had created a barricade of gold furniture surrounding the king. There was no way the king could escape in less than two days. Now, all Reyna had to do was get Piper, Leo, and Coach Hedge out.

Reyna looked at the king's prison proudly. She had done that. She had singlehandedly taken out both the king, and his son, Lityerses. Even with a broken collarbone, Reyna was still able to handle threatening situations. And now, it was done. The king was screaming protest, locked behind his jail of gold furniture, and Reyna's rush of adrenaline was slowly fading. Her defiant smirk slowly merged into a rather determined look, as she slowly made her way over to the wreckage of gold statues.

Reyna decided to carry Coach Hedge out to the River first. Then Piper. Reyna didn't know what she would do about Leo. He had managed to be caught in the most awkward position, and carrying him out would certainly be a chore. Then, Reyna looked around the room at the other statues. That barber, his face held a scared but brave expression. He didn't deserve to stay gold. Besides, their dragon was gone, a few extra minutes wouldn't really hurt them that badly. And that girl in the gold dress. She was rather pretty, and her expression was one of pity and reproach. She was probably the King's daughter. Suddenly, Reyna realized she couldn't leave all these statues here. If it took her all night, she would take them all out, dunk them in the river, and let them go back to the house.

Reyna rubbed her broken collarbone and trudged over to the girl first, despite the loud protests from the king. Piper and Leo would be last. Reyna couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** First, I am extremely ashamed of myself for going this long without updating. I beg your forgiveness. I was positive I would have more time to work on stories now that I don't have school to concentrate on, but just as I was about to settle down and write, summer hit me. And before I knew it, June and July were gone. Just... gone. It's like this every summer, and I should have at least warned you, but I didn't. I'm so sorry, but I can promise you I have no intention of abandoning this story just yet.

To make it up, here's an extra long chapter of the promised Reyna-awesomeness. I had to shorten a bit of the conversations just to fit all of it in, but I think it was worth it. Besides, conversations bore me. I have no regrets. Next chapter will be up as soon as I can write it, and I promise that it won't be as long as the last wait. I hope it will only be a week, but I'm not sure.

And, I'm completely open for CC. I didn't tear this one apart with my own editing, so there're probably a few mistakes.

I'm not going to beg for reviews, since I know I don't deserve them, but... I would really like it if you reviewed anyway. Just to let you know.

Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10: Old memories

_**TO CLEAR UP ANY MISUNDERSTANDING**:_

_When Reyna kissed Leo, in chapter 7, she was being manipulated by Meda. Reyna had a broken collarbone at the time, so she distracted Leo by kissing him, then tried to stab him while he wasn't paying attention. She, as Piper and Leo saw it, toyed with his emotions and preyed on his weaknesses. Although Meda did order Reyna to kill Leo, she did not specifically order her to kill him by distracting him with a kiss. There were several misunderstandings here, so I hope this clears things up._

* * *

Luckily, the chore of rescuing everyone in the mansion wasn't a hard one. It took Reyna but 30 minutes, since the river wasn't far from the house. At last, everyone was huddled in the living room of the gold mansion, sipping warm hot chocolate. Courtesy of the King's daughter, of course.

Piper had been rather surprised to find that Reyna had saved them, and Leo grudgingly thanked her by "forgetting" about the recent kissing incident. He didn't say it out loud, but his hostile attitude had been put aside, and the barrier between them had broken. Of course, there was a slight possibility that Leo had actually forgotten it, but that was rather unlikely.

Piper was doing the worst. Reyna made her sit close to the newly made fire, and the king's daughter had helpfully provided an armload of soft, gold, and apparently magic blankets, and a bowl of steaming oatmeal. Coach Hedge had done a bit of nature magic on her, so her breath smelled like Gatorade.

Thankfully, their hostess had recovered easily, claiming that she was used to being turned to gold, and insisting to help by making hot chocolate and giving everyone blankets, which she apparently kept for emergencies, since Lityerses always liked the air conditioning on high. She was _very_ talkative. Reyna didn't remember her name, it was hard to pronounce, and Reyna wasn't especially good with names. Not that she would ever admit it, of course.

Coach Hedge was eyeing the king grumpily, muttering under his breath about stupid cheaters not fighting fairly, and sipping his hot chocolate. He had insisted that the secret to cooking hot chocolate was to flavor it with parsley, so Jane Doe, or whatever the princess's name was, had very kindly sprinkled a few leaves into his cup. She also mentioned that she had taken care of old grumpy satyrs before, and told Reyna that adding a few snips of parsley to his cup wasn't a bother at all. In fact, there wasn't much that "Jane" hadn't told Reyna.

Leo was flirting with the princess, but stopped when the barber reminded him that "her majesty" was at least 2000 years older than him. Then, he started fiddling with his toolbelt, obviously frustrated that the non-magical borders prevented him from playing with screws and bolts.

"When will we be heading out?" Leo asked. Reyna exchanged glances with Coach Hedge.

"Ah, good question, Leo. I believe we can head out as soon as our friend Piper here is feeling herself again." Coach Hedge decided, taking another sip of his parsley-flavored hot chocolate.

"Oh, d-don't worry about me, I'm ready to go anytime you are." Piper said, gritting her teeth.

Reyna was worried about Piper, but they really couldn't afford to waste a lot of time. According to one of the swordsmen, Aeolus's favorite place to dock his palace was right up the mountain; which wasn't as hopeless as Reyna had at first expected.

"Piper, I need to know if you can't make a hike up the mountain," Reyna said with earnesty. "If you can't make it, we're just going to have to lose a few hours on the quest. I'm not taking you up there if there's any chance that you might collapse half way through."

Piper shook her head quickly. "Really, I'm fine. We can leave any time."

Reyna nodded. "OK then, let's go."

Piper carefully stood up and threw off her blankets. Her teeth began chattering immediately, but she set her teeth together and locked her jaw, so Reyna couldn't see how cold she was. Reyna did see, of course, but she made no mention of it. If Piper was going to kill herself trudging through the melting snow, there wasn't much Reyna could do to stop her. Jane, as Reyna now called her, bid them farewell, and helped them jam a gold blanket into one of the pockets in Leo's toolbelt.

Leo led the way, since he notified Reyna that there were active land mines securing the perimiters. They were hiking up the mountain path, through the freezing sludge, when suddenly, it began to snow. First, only a few flakes fell. They stuck to Reyna's hair, Coach Hedge's baseball cap, and Piper's eyelashes, somehow melting before they hit Leo.

Some snowstorms begin with a light flurry and don't stick to the ground, no matter how hard it snows. Still others begin with only a few big fat flakes falling at a time, and then BOOM, the entire place is inches deep with snow. Then there are _the snows_. That happens when the big fat flakes don't just fall down slowly, but they come pouring down as if someone in the sky dumped a bucket of snowflakes onto earth, and within minutes, everything is covered. I assume you can guess what the sky decided to do as soon as Reyna began walking up the mountain.

Yes, the sky decided to "dump buckets of snowflakes" onto the tired group, as I have so articulately phrased it. Demigods usually have rotten luck, but Reyna managed to find a sort of cave carved into the side of the mountain.

"Leo," Reyna said, "Have your fire-producing skills recovered?"

Leo smirked, and lit his fingertips on fire. "I believe they have, your highness."

"Shut up. Can you make us a fire?"

"I believe I can, your-"

"L-l-leo, sh-she s-said-d t-to st-top-p." Piper's teeth were clicking together madly, but she still managed to scold Leo.

Soon, the group was huddled around a blazing fire. Leo was toasting marshmellows, much to Reyna's amusement. Piper was looking a bit better, thanks to the warm blanket Leo had kept in his belt, but a new guilt lingered in her eyes. Eventually, Piper broke the silence.

"Guys, I need to tell you something," she said. Reyna turned. So did Leo. Piper bit her lip. Clearly, this was a confession, rather than a good-news announcement.

"Three nights before the Grand Canyon trip," she said, "I had a dream vision- the giant Enceladus, telling me my father had been taken hostage. He told me I had to cooperate, or my dad would be killed."

Coach Hedge whistled. "Big giant, Breathes fire. Not somebody I'd want barbecuing my daddy goat."

The flames crackled. Reyna didn't change her expression. "Go on," she said.

Piper looked at Reyna nervously. "Ah, right. So, to get my dad back, I had to sabotage this quest. I didn't realize it would be the three of us. Then after we started the quest, Enceladus sent me another warning: He told me he wanted you two dead. He wants me to lead you to a mountain. I don't know exactly which one, but it's in the Bay Area- I could see the Golden Gate Bridge from the summit. I have to be there by noon on the solstice, tomorrow. An exchange."

Piper started to cry. Reyna smiled a little and scooted closer to Piper. "Hey, cheer up, Piper," she said comfortingly. "I'm not kicking you out of the quest just because some giant is blackmailing you. I think we have time, we might be able to go and rescue your dad, depending on the circumstances."

"You-you don't understand." Piper blubbered, "I've probably just killed my dad by telling you this."

Coach Hedge sniffed. "I doubt it. Giant hasn't gotten what he wants yet, so he still needs your dad for leverage. He'll wait until the deadline passes, see if you show up. He wants to divert the quest to this mountain, right?"

Piper nodded uncertainly. Reyna waited for the Coach to continue. She had thought this through, yes of course, but she wanted to hear other opinions.

"So that means Hera is being kept somewhere else," Hedge reasoned. "And she has to be saved by the same day. So you have to choose: rescue your dad, or rescue Hera. If you go after Hera, THEN Enceladus takes care of your dad. Besides, Enceladus would never let you go even if you cooperated. You're obviously one of the seven in the great prophecy."

"So we have no choice," Piper said miserably. "We have to save Hera, or the giant king gets unleashed. That's our quest. The world depends on it. And Enceladus seems to have ways of watching me. He isn't stupid. He'll know if we change course and go the wrong way. He'll kill my dad."

"He's not going to kill your dad," Leo said. "We'll save him."

"We don't have time!" Piper cried. "Besides, it's a trap."

"We're your friends, Beauty Queen," Leo said. "We're not going to let your dad die. We just gotta figure out a plan." Reyna nodded, already reasoning out how long the snow would delay them, and adding it to the time spent at Aeouls's palace, then wondering how long it would take to get to California.

"Would help if we knew where the mountain was," Coach Hedge pointed out. "Maybe Aeolus can tell you that. The Bay Area has a pretty bad reputation for demigods. Old home of the Titans, Mount Othrys, sits over Mount Tam, where Alas holds up the sky. I hope that's not the mountain you saw."

Suddenly Reyna's mind blocked up, and her strategies she had been calculating vanished in the blink of an eye. Mount Othrys? Atlas? Titans? Visions flashed before her eyes. blood, lightning, screaming, monsters, and the face of a boy. He had gold hair and piercing blue eyes, and everything about him was familiar. She could barely hear Piper, saying something about the mountain being farther inland.

"Coach, what happened to Mount Othrys?" Reyna asked, suddenly.

"Well, Kronos built a new palace there last summer. Big nasty place, it was going to be the headquarters for his new kingdom and all. Weren't any battles there though. Kronos marched on Manhattan, trying to take Olympus. If I remember right, he left some other titans in charge of his palace, but after Kronos got defeated in Manhattan, the whole palace just crumbled on its own."

More memories came flooding in. More faces. Swords and spears. Someone shouting in Roman, and she understood him.

"No," Reyna said, "That's not what happened. I-"

Suddenly, the flood of memories vanished as a howl pierced the night air. Reyna tensed, her hand on her leather bag.

"Did you hear that?" Piper glanced around the cave. "What?" Then another howl pierced the night air.

Wolves.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I'm back, and I'm on schedule this time. Yay for me! To the Leyna lovers: I can promise a hint of Leyna next chapter, but I've decided that this story isn't going to involve a lot of it. If I decide to write a sequel, that will definitely have Leyna, but for this book, I'll just keep it neutral. In this book, Reyna is still crushing on Jason.

To all the people who noticed the absence of tofu: Good eye. I decided to leave that out, since they had hot chocolate and probably a few snacks at "Jane Doe's" house.

REVIEW! PLEASE! This time, I have a few specific questions.

1. What did you think of the added scene with the princess?

2. Do you ship Jason/Reyna and Piper/Leo, or Jason/Piper and Reyna/Leo? Or something completely different?

3. What is your favorite chapter so far?

4. Did you like this mini-quiz? I think I'll have one next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11: Our saving Grace

Everyone jumped to their feet. Another howl broke the silence as Reyna slipped her knitting needles out of her leather bag. Leo grabbed a hammer from his tool belt, and Piper unsheathed her knife. Then, a huge wolf stepped into the firelight.

It snarled, but Reyna just laughed.

"I do not fear you," she said. "I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona, I fear no one. Turn back, you fool of a beast, before I tear you to pieces."

The wolf slowly backed away; the malice in its eyes had dampened a little.

"Wow, I really need to learn Latin," Leo said. "How did you even do that?"

Their victory was short lived. The Alpha wolf had left, but a whole pack of wolves had gathered around the cave, growling and snapping their jaws.

"Vlacas," Piper muttered. Leo also muttered an inappropriate curse in Spanish which will not be repeated.

The pack circled around the cave, slowly getting closer. Piper threw her dagger at the closest one, but it sailed uselessly through the wolf's head.

"Oh great," Reyna muttered. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Ok cupcakes, here's the plan-" Coach Hedge hefted his club.

"Coach, you are NOT charging them all by yourself," Reyna objected. "They respect a pack. We're sticking together. Ah, Piper, I suggest you stay in the back."

Suddenly, a harsh, cruel, cold laugh rang out through the night air. Piper jumped.

Reyna narrowed her eyes, and could just see the silhouette of a man, wading through the wolf pack. As he got closer, Reyna could see how repulsive he looked. He had greasy hair the color of soot, tangled and matted around his head. It was topped with a crown of small bones that probably came from different rodents. His clothes were made from fresh animal skins; raccoons, deer, rabbits, foxes, and even a few wolves. His teeth were sharp, like the wolves', and his skin was tight around his face.

"_Behold_," he said, smiling. "_The child of Rome._"

"SPEAK ENGLISH, WOLF MAN!" Coach Hedge yelled.

"Tell your faun to mind his tongue," the man snapped at Reyna.

"I do not follow the orders of a demon," Reyna said calmly. "Who are you that I should grovel at your feet?" In reality, Reyna could list several reasons why she should be groveling at his feet, but she wanted to at least know the name of the guy who was about to eat her for a midnight snack. Also, monsters got mad when they couldn't scare you.

The man snarled. "I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."

Leo pulled a bottle of clear liquid from his belt.

"There is no food for you here, Lycaon," Reyna said.

"Unless you like s'mores?" Leo offered unhelpfully.

Apparently the wolves didn't like s'mores, because they growled, and circled nearer to the fire. Reyna kept her daggers pointed at Lycaon, but she suspected that they weren't going to do any more harm than Piper's dagger.

"Which one should I kill first?" Lycaon mused, looking pleased at Piper's fearful expression. "Perhaps the daughter of Aphrodite? Or the son of Hephaestus? Or perhaps the ever fearless daughter of the great Bellona?"

"You were told about us?" Reyna asked.

"Aye, there's a great reward for the one who finally kills you. Not to mention my pack hasn't had a good meal in a month or so."

"You will leave," Reyna ordered. "Do you think that a mere pack of wolves can stop me?"

The wolf king let out another cold, bone chilling laugh. "I do. And it has. I have only to give the command and you will all be killed."

He smiled evilly, and opened his mouth. Reyna gave up, and tackled him. She stabbed him with her daggers several times, then gave up and threw them away. His teeth were dangerously close to her hands, so she punched him in the mouth. Her collarbone protested, but Reyna gritted her teeth against the pain.

Reyna regretted her decision when she realized his harmless looking paws had sharp nails. Lycaon ripped at her shirt madly as she tried to hold his head down, managing to kick her in all the wrong places.

Surprisingly, the shirt held. The soft gold material was acting like armor. Reyna thanked the gods, but her luck didn't hold out for long, as the wolf king quickly figured out what was going on.

"_Occidet illios_!" he choked. "Kill them!"

Reyna quickly kicked him away, and ran back to her friends as the wolves lunged. Leo threw the glass bottle and it shattered, spilling the liquid all around the wolves' feet. He quickly followed it with a ball of fire, and the liquid ignited.

The wolves retreated from the roaring flames, howling in anguish as their gasoline drenched paws caught fire. Several ran out into the snow, trying desperately to cool their burning feet. The wall of fire didn't last long, and Leo looked tired from his effort.

"I can't summon any more gas," he said. Then he turned bright red. "Woah, that came out wrong. I meant the burning kind."

Reyna smiled a little. Oh Leo. Even though they were about to be torn apart by wolves, he still managed to keep his sense of humor.

She snapped out of her reverie when a wolf launched itself at Piper. Reyna dodged in front of Piper and knocked the wolf aside. With a solid kick to the ribs, Reyna sent the wolf scampering away with its tail between its legs.

But there were more.

Another wolf sprang at the small group, and another. Leo was on fire, madly trying to keep the wolves away. Reyna kicked and swiped at the wolves with her fist.

"Back, you fools," Reyna snarled at the wolves in Latin. "I am the daughter of Rome, all creatures should bow before me."

She threw herself into one of the bigger wolves, delivering a good sized kick to the ribcage. She ducked, narrowly avoiding his snapping jaws, and slammed her knee into the wolf's legs.

Just then, one of the smaller wolves darted underneath her and sank its teeth into Reyna's arm. Reyna screamed in agony, hitting the floor with a thud. She cursed in Latin as the wolves closed in around her. Her collarbone throbbed. This was it. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the final blow.

Suddenly, there was a whizzing sound, and the wolf's grip on her arm lessened.

Reyna opened her eyes. An anguished howl broke out as the wolves fled from the cave. Silver arrows were streaming in through the entrance of the cave, and as the arrows pierced the tough hides of the wolves, they dissolved into shadow. A second arrow hit the wolf that had bitten Reyna, and it melted away, leaving a bloody gash on her arm.

Reyna quickly scrambled to her feet and hid her injured arm behind her back. All the wolves had gone. Lycaon was nowhere to be seen.

Reyna glanced around. Surprisingly, no one else was hurt. Piper was cowering in a corner behind Coach Hedge, who looked a bit disappointed. Leo was standing in a pile of ashes, gazing open mouthed at the entrance of the cave.

A group of hunters, cloaked in grey and white winter camouflage, were standing at the entrance of the cave, talking quietly amongst themselves. They each carried quivers of glowing arrows, and although their faces were covered with parka hoods, they were clearly all girls. Smaller wolves circled around the small group, gazing out into the snowstorm with alert, golden eyes.

"So close," the older one was saying, as she bent down, scooping an arrow from the ground.

"Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."

The girl turned toward Reyna. Something about her voice was familiar. Something about the way she stood, the way she commanded her troop reminded her of something. She threw off her hood, revealing electric blue eyes that sent a jolt of recognition through Reyna.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Are you Thalia?" Piper asked. "Hey, Percy told me about you! Aren't you the girl who gave up love forever? Percy said to tell you we came from camp if we ran into you."

The girl, Thalia, turned toward Piper, a thin smile on her lips.

"So you're the quest, huh?" she asked. "Any luck on finding Hera?"

"We're going to find Aeolus," Piper responded. "We're hoping he can give us some help."

Thalia nodded. "Good plan." She narrowed her eyes at Piper. Reyna looked closely, and saw that Piper's lips were blue. She was trying desperately not to show how cold she was, but it wasn't working very well.

"Hypothermia," Thalia muttered, walking quickly toward Piper. She put a hand on her forehead and frowned. "Don't you know nature healing?" she asked Coach Hedge.

"Of course!" the coach scoffed, "Why do you think she looks this good?" Thalia rolled her eyes. "Take her to my friend at the entrance," she told the satyr. "Phoebe's an excellent healer."

Thalia straightened, and glanced over at Reyna.

"You might want to go see Phoebe as well," Thalia noted, glancing at the small puddle of blood behind Reyna. Reyna blushed a little, and headed towards the edge of the cave. She looked back at Leo, who nodded nervously at Reyna.

"So," Thalia said coldly, "Since you seem to be the only one who hasn't been injured in some way, I suppose you are going to have to be the one who tells me where you came from and how you got here."

If Leo blew this interview, they were all screwed. But, then again, the white tent set up outside looked pretty inviting, and Leo could hold his own. Sure he was dumb sometimes, but he didn't need to be micromanaged in order for him to stay out of trouble.

Laughter sounded from inside the tent. Reyna hesitantly opened the flap.

"Oh Greek gods of Olympus," Phoebe muttered when she saw Reyna's arm. "Well, sit down and make yourself comfortable. What is that, a broken collarbone? Here, let me fix that for you. Duct tape isn't a good substitute for bandages."

As Phoebe sterilized and bandaged Reyna's arm, Reyna had a good look around the tent. Piper was smiling, and drinking something- probably nectar- from a thermos. The inside of the tent was much bigger than the outside, and soft white furs acted as both carpeting and cushions.

Phoebe was chattering on about how great it was to be a hunter, and how wonderful Lady Artemis was, and how brilliant Thalia was, and how they had been tracking Lycaon all week.

"Phoebe," Reyna interrupted, "What- what is Thalia's last name?" Reyna had been replaying the cave scene in her head, noticing every little detail, and the name Thalia didn't seem like it belonged to the person Thalia.

Phoebe frowned at Reyna. "She doesn't like to use her last name." she said. "Why do you want to know?"

Reyna shook her head and shrugged. "I know her from somewhere. I just- I just don't remember."

Phoebe nodded. "Piper told me about your situation. Her surname's Grace. Recognize that?"

Grace.

Jason Grace.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Dun dun dun!

Very sorry about the super late update you guys. And wow, 52 reviews? I feel so special. Anyhow, about the late update, I planned to update in a week's time, and I had the chapter ready and everything, but then... I talked back to my mom... and she deleted all my unsaved work... which was the entire chapter...

I highly considered suing her for breaking the laws of the Constitution (cruel and unusual punishment) but I decided against it. I had been really rude to her, and I completely deserved it. So, I rushed to rewrite the chapter, but then I had some new ideas, and I redid the whole thing again. Oh, and I also got a beta, because I felt like I needed double checking. So sorry you guys had to suffer because of my insolent behavior. I blame myself entirely, please feel free to blame me again in a review.

And now for a bit of explanation, which is completely useless, since the only people who probably want the explanation aren't bothering to read this, and the only people who are bothering to read this have probably either figured it out or dismissed it. Anyhow, in the Son of Neptune, Percy remembers Annabeth, even though the rest of his memories are gone. In the Lost Hero, Jason DOESN'T remember Reyna, but I'm pretty sure he didn't have a crush on her in the first place. So, I figured, if Jason meant a lot to Reyna, she would probably remember him best. Obviously, she didn't like Jason as much as Percy liked Annabeth, but she liked him a good bit, I think. And I have fanfiction license, so I can just say that Reyna liked Jason a lot, and Voila, she liked him a lot.

QUESTION TIME! :)

1. Do you have any younger siblings? If so, what ages and what genders?

2. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like the Leo/Reyna pairing?

3. Apollo or Artemis?

4. Authors notes- do you find them annoying or amusing? (this is just in general, about all author's notes, not just mine)


	12. Chapter 12: Electric Blue- or not?

Reyna's eyes widened and her bandaged arm fell limply at her side. _Jason Grace_. The name banged around her head, filling the space where her memories should be. Phoebe's eyes were no longer green, but a startling electric blue. Then Phoebe was gone altogether and a boy was sitting in front of her. His eyes were the same as Thalia's. His golden hair was tousled, and he had a small scar on his lower lip. He smiled, and his whole face expressed his happiness.

"Reyna," he said softly, holding his arms out for a hug.

Then he was gone.

Gone.

"NO!" Reyna cried, grabbing her head franticly. Slowly the boy's face slipped from her mind, his features dissolving into an endless void of darkness. She tried to recall his expression, but it was gone. It was as if her memories had simply disappeared. Only his name lingered in Reyna's mind. Jason. Jason Grace.

"My gosh Reyna, are you OK?" Piper said, looking at Reyna strangely.

"What – no - I'm fine," Reyna stammered.

"Was it something from your past?" Piper asked eagerly.

Reyna nodded.

"What was it?"

Reyna hesitated. She was afraid to say his name, afraid that her only memory would die on her lips.

"I - I forgot," she managed to say.

Voices neared the tent. Thalia and Leo were back.

"Well, yeah, actually, I did do a pretty good job of defending the cave. Hey wait up! See, I was about to ambush the Ly-what's-his-name wolf dude with fireworks, but then-"

"That was sarcasm, Leo," Thalia said dryly as she lifted the tent flap and peered in at Reyna. "How's it going monster-slayer assistants? So I hear you all are headed up to Aeolus's place. I can escort you most of the way if you like."

Leo's impish face appeared beside Thalia's. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were sparkling. Reyna frowned. There was something about Leo- something she hadn't really noticed before- that reminded her of Jason. But what? She was pretty sure that Jason had blue eyes and gold hair, even though she couldn't quite remember what his face looked like. So, she knew Leo didn't resemble Jason, but why did he remind her of him? It was killing her. What were the similarities? How had her mind subconsciously connected Leo with Jason?

Reyna shrugged it off. It was probably because they were both boys. _Duh_. Why hadn't she thought of that before? A tiny nagging part of her brain told her that that was not the right answer, but she ignored it. Tiny nagging parts of your brains could get extremely annoying.

"Woah, no way!" Leo said, raising his eyebrows at the warm furs strewn across the ground. "I've been freezing my but off out here as I helpfully inform Mrs. Killer-Eyes of our current situation, and you lazy people get the luxury tent?"

Thalia glared at him. "You did _not_ just give me the title of a married woman." she spat. Leo winced under Thalia's terrifying glare.

"See what I mean?" he protested.

Thalia's eyes narrowed and she turned away. She clearly disliked Leo, and was only putting up with him because he was an important part of the quest.

"How's the arm, Reyna?" she asked.

"It's fine," Reyna said, avoiding Thalia's eyes.

"Great," Thalia said. "Phoebe, can we pack up now?"

Phoebe nodded. "Better move _boy_." she said. Reyna and Piper stepped out of the tent as well.

With a quick flip, Phoebe snapped the tent shut. It collapsed into itself until it became small enough for Phoebe to slip it into her pack.

Leo was staring at the tent sized dent in the snow.

"No way!" he said, "You guys don't happen to have a set of blueprints for that, do you?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Even if we did carry blueprints around on a hunting trip, we wouldn't lend them to a boy."

Leo stuck out his pouty lip. "I'm offended."

"You should be," Phoebe said, and ended the conversation.

Thalia handed out silver parkas, which kept out the cold very well. "You guys ready for a hike?" she asked.

"Ready," Piper said energetically.

Reyna nodded stubbornly.

"Hey, I'm always ready," Leo boasted.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Follow me."

Reyna, Piper, and Leo followed Thalia and Phoebe up the mountain. A gust of wind nipped their noses, and Thalia broke into a jog.

"Come on, Valdez, pick up the pace!" Coach Hedge said. "Let's chant. _I've got a girl in Kalamanzoo_-"

"Let's not," Thalia said sharply. So they jogged in silence.

Suddenly, Thalia stopped. Leo didn't, and ran right into Thalia, nearly knocking them both off of the narrow ledge that was their path. Luckily, Thalia was steady on her feet, and he didn't. Thalia shot Leo an evil glare, and pointed up.

Reyna looked up and caught her breath. The lovely night sky was speckled with beautiful stars, and the moon was shining happily. The air was thin, now that they were above the clouds, and the peaks of other mountains jutted up from the fluffy ground of clouds. But what really caught Reyna's attention was the giant purple rock hovering in the air. The sides were rugged cliffs, riddled with caves, and every few minutes, a fierce wind would come blasting from one of the caves. On top of the glowing purple stone, there was a brass fortress.

"Wow." Piper said. "Now that is a palace."

The only thing connecting the top of the mountain to the floating island was a narrow bridge of what looked like moonlight that shifted and flickered as the winds swirled around it.

"We're seriously not crossing that," Leo said. Reyna disagreed. If they were going to get to Aeolus's palace, they were going to_ have_ to cross that.

Thalia shrugged. "I'll admit I'm not a big fan of heights. But this is the only way to Aeolus's fortress, so take it or leave it."

"Take it," Reyna said immediately. "Will this thing hold our weight?"

Thalia frowned, considering. "We should go across in two different groups. The bridge is fragile."

Coach Hedge jumped up enthusiastically, tapping his feet on the ice-or-moonlight bridge. The he jumped off the mountain, putting his entire weight on the glowing bridge. It held.

"Easy! I'll go first. Piper, come on, girl. I'll give you a hand."

Coach Hedge grabbed Piper's arm and hauled her up onto the bridge. When they were about half way across, Thalia turned to Phoebe.

"Phoebe, I'lll be back soon. Go find the others. Tell them I'm on my way."

"You sure?" Phoebe asked, narrowing her eyes at Leo.

"It's fine," Thalia promised.

Phoebe nodded slowly, and headed back down the mountain.

"Reyna, Leo, just be careful where you step. It hardly ever breaks." Thalia said.

Reyna only half heard Thalia. She stepped out onto the bridge with confidence. The winds whipped her hair, and she took another step. Reyna felt regal, like she was a queen, walking a silver balcony. A single name pounded in her head, over and over. _Jason Grace. Jason Grace_. Leo followed her anxiously, and Thalia behind Leo. Piper and Coach Hedge were already on the other side, encouraging them on. Reyna was nearly two thirds of the way across when things started to go wrong.

"Why do they have a bridge?"

Reyna snapped out of her trance and turned around. Leo had stopped. Thalia was turning a sickly green color and urging Leo forward, trying not to look down.

"Leo, come on!" Reyna said.

"But why?" Leo asked, turning to Thalia. "They're winds spirits, can't they fly?"

"Yes, but sometimes they need a way to connect to the world below," Thalia said.

"So the bridge isn't always here?"

Thalia shook her head. "The wind spirits don't like to anchor to the earth, but sometimes it's necessary. Like now. They know you're coming."

_Uh-oh_. Leo was beginning to smoke. This was not good. OK, this was really bad.

"Leo!" Thalia cried, "Keep moving! Look at your feet!"

Leo looked down and noticed that he was smoking. Reyna realized that the ice below him was thinning. So it really was ice after all.

_Oh Jupiter._ If Leo fell, she would never forgive herself.

"Come on Leo," Reyna urged, "Forget about it for now, just come on!"

"But Reyna, remember what Hera called you in that dream?" Leo persisted, "She called you a _bridge_!"

"Leo, seriously, cool down," Reyna said, "I don't know what you're talking about, but the bridge is-"

"Just listen." Leo continued. "If Reyna is a bridge, what's she connecting? Maybe two different places that normally don't get along, like the air palace and the ground. You had to be somewhere before this, right? And Hera said you were an exchange."

"An exchange." Thalia mused. Then her eyes widened. "Oh gods!"

"What?" Leo asked, confused.

"I had a dream a few weeks ago. I—I dreamed about a…" Thalia seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "I dreamed I was at the wolf house. And I dream about that place often, but this time it was different. There was a voice, my mother, telling me to find the bridge. I ignored it, because Artemis had already given me a task to hunt Lycon, but now I understand. The wolf house-" Thalia's voice broke. "They're keeping Hera at the wolf house."

Suddenly, the bridge dissolved. Thalia scrambled backwards, and Reyna leapt forward, grabbing onto Leo's shirt collar and pulling him safely to the other side.

"Gods, Reyna, you saved me again," Leo muttered, thanking her. Reyna smiled slightly, she didn't know why.

"I'll take my hunters to the wolf house!" Thalia shouted over the swirling winds. Her voice was getting fainter. "I'll meet you there!" She turned, and raced down the crumbling bridge. Reyna pulled Leo behind her, half dragging him, as she tried desperately to make it to the other side. She threw herself onto the rocky cliff just as the remaining stretch of the bridge dissolved. Leo lay panting beside her. Reyna sat up, and Leo rolled over, looking back at the mountains.

"I'm stupid," he said to himself.

Reyna nodded. "Yes Leo, you kind of are," she said affectionately. Leo didn't really pay attention, he was still staring out over the edge of the mountain.

Then Reyna realized- he was looking for Thalia.

Reyna's heart sank. That was OK though, Leo was allowed to fall for Thalia. At least he wouldn't be flirting with her anymore.

Come to think of it, Reyna never really liked Thalia anyway. Her eyes reminded her too much of Jason.

Reyna picked herself up coldly, and looked over the landscape at Aeolus's palace. She was not going to bother thinking about Leo anymore; she had a quest to complete.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh Greek gods of Olympus, look how many reviews I have! LOOK HOW MANY! I GOT 27 REVIEWS! 27! 27 + 52 = 79, and that means I'm twenty one reviews away from 100! I am so happy I could explode right now. You guys seriously deserve a big hug, and I'm terribly sorry for being so late with updating. I am literally so happy that I'm bouncing in my seat. You guys are so great!

When I'm about to be late on turning in my chapter, I usually have these two choices- I can work hard on getting a nice, well written chapter and turn it in late, or I can whip up a crappy chapter and turn it in on time. This time, however, I was faced with these choices- temporarily abandon my chapter and focus on finishing my homework on time, or whip up a crappy chapter and fail all my classes.

And I'm going on a really long vacation next Saturday. Like, two weeks long. So, I'll try with all my might to get up another chapter before the week is over, but I might not be able to do it.

And yea, I think I promised some Leyna two chapters ago, so here it is! Hope you like. A bunch of my reviewers practically begged for a good Leyna chapter, and even though I didn't originally plan on it, I am a die-hard Leyna shipper (Yikes! I gave it away!). So I gave in.

OH OH! If you guys _really_ like this, I have three other PJO stories, The Sky on Your Shoulders, Never Again, and The First Capture the Flag. More details about them are somewhere in my profile. Feel free to check them out! I'm not going to describe them, because this is way too long already...

**The terrible ramblings end here, below are the important things.**

Ok, I seriously fail at dropping romantic hints. I always leave the thought unfinished, because I'll go over it and be like "Oh that's way too obvious." and then delete half of it. So my romantic hints are always "fill in the blanks because the protagonist can't" romantic hints. So here's the giant unanswered question this time:

Why did Leo remind Reyna of Jason? Ha ha, because- I'm going to say it- because she- NO UGH DARN IT! I can't bring myself to give the answer away. How about you guys guess? Can YOU fill in the blanks? If a bunch of people get it right, I'll post the answer in the next chapter.

ALSO: I got a request for a Liper fic, and I'm working one one right now. It will probably be up in... um... maybe three or four months. Not quite sure.

QUESTION TIME! :D

1) Fill in the blanks, as directed two paragraphs up

2) Which book in the Heroes of Olympus series is your favorite? That's only three, so it shouldn't be hard.

3) Do you have a bike, and can you ride it?

4) Would you rather write something that makes people cry, or something that makes people laugh?

And again, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! Sorry my authors notes are really long.


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